COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, January 14, 2019
QUESTION NO. 7
QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell
To ask the Chief Executive for an update report on the Carbon Credits.
REPLY:
Carbon Credits or emission trading is carried out at a county or large industry level across the EU. For 2017, total national greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to be 60.75 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq). Agriculture, Energy Industries and Transport accounted for 72.4% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017. Public Services account for 1.5% (0.906 Mt CO2eq) of emissions in 2017.
South Dublin County Council has the following targets in relation to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction. South Dublin County Council is required to achieve a 33% improvement in Energy Efficiency by 2020, SDCC are well on the way to achieving this target. This is higher than the national target of less than 20% reduction. As a signatory to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, South Dublin County Council has also pledged to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Some of the Key Actions South Dublin are currently pursuing include in order to meet the targets set above:
- The Heatnet project, a district heating project for the Tallaght Area, which will reduce carbon emissions by using waste heat. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/sdcc-secures-funding-for-innovative-tallaght-district-heating-system.html
- 5 New Electric Vehicles – the first step in the decarbonisation of the South Dublin County Council fleet. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/power-surge-for-south-dublin-county-council.html
- LED upgrades of the public lighting stock, currently 35% of the stock has been upgraded. The installation of LED lighting will continue in 2019 and beyond, with a target to replace 4000 by 2020.
- Lighting upgrades in the Council owned buildings to LED. County Hall has 2,600 which will see a 44% reduction in energy consumption when replaced.
The council will continue to invest in structural and behavioural change to enable the transition to carbon neutral, climate resilient county.