Ireland's Transition to Renewable Energy

30-31st October and 1-2nd November, 2002 at the Tipperary Institute, Thurles, Co Tipperary. The world's fossil energy reserves are being rapidly depleted and their use on the present scale threatens a potentially-catastrophic climate change. Ireland, in common with the rest of the world, is therefore going to have to switch to an economy built almost entirely on renewable energy sources. The purpose of the conference is to consider how quickly this switch ought to be made and the size and phasing of the energy investment that will be required to make it. We will also discuss the extent and nature of the island's renewable energy resource and how its use will affect the economy and people's daily lives. We'll try to answer questions like: Will there be enough energy for economic growth to continue at anything like its recent pace? How much will the relative cost of moving people and goods rise? What effects will this have? And how will farming fare, growing new crops but using less fuel and fertiliser? Wednesday, OCTOBER 30th 18.00 Registration opens, Anner Hotel, Thurles. 19.15 Dinner for speakers, Anner Hotel, Thurles. 20.30 PUBLIC LECTURE, Anner Hotel, Thurles: Seventy per cent of the world¹s remaining supplies of oil are in the Middle East and the Caspian Basin. Not only is this a politically unstable area but the war in Afghanistan and the threatened invasion of Iraq and even of Saudi Arabia are seen by many observers to be more about securing these fuel supplies than eliminating terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Daniel Plesch, a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London will argue that no country should rely on such a volatile region for its vital energy supplies and that a switch to renewables, particularly for transport, is an urgent necessity. Thursday, OCTOBER 31st:

Sponsored by ESB Independent Energy

The International and European energy supply situation. Because energy is required to make the transition to a renewable-energy based economy, it is important to make the change while fossil fuels are still fairly readily available. If left too late, the switch can only be made at the expense of people¹s livelihoods or food supplies. So how much time do we have? In the opening session we will hear that the production of gas and conventional oil is likely to peak in the near future. If we are prepared to ignore the environmental consequences, to what extent will it be possible for coal from increasingly deep mines and oil from unconventional sources such as tar sands to fill the gap? Will an increasing amount of the energy that burning them releases be required to mine more so that the net energy gain declines until, perhaps, there is still a lot of coal or tar sand in the ground but it¹s useless because it takes too much energy to extract the energy from it? And what about the net energy gain from nuclear power? How does it compare it with that from renewables? In the afternoon session we'll look at the time and energy required for the transition to renewables and adequacy of the energy supply once that shift has been made. 08.30 Registration opens at Tipperary Institute. Tea and coffee. 09.15 Welcome by the Chief Executive of the Tipperary Institute, Padraig Colbert 09.20 David O¹Kelly of Feasta on what Feasta is and why it regards the energy supply issue as crucial to sustainability. He will then introduce the chairman of the morning session. 09.25 Introduction by the chairman for the morning, Nuala Ahern MEP. She will stress the theme of the day, that the availability of energy is not a function of price but of the energy required to release or extract energy compared with the amount of energy produced. 09.30 Dr. Colin Campbell, an independent petro-geologist, on the increasingly tight limits on supplies of conventional oil. 10.00 David Frowd, Shell International Limited, on the oil industry¹s response to Dr. Campbell¹s claim that supplies of conventional oil and gas will soon peak and on the prospects for developing unconventional sources of oil and gas to compensate. His analysis will make allowances for the amounts of energy required for extraction and the restrictions on extraction techniques involving the release of greenhouse gases likely to be imposed by action to curb climate change. 10.30 Discussion 11.00 Coffee break 11.30 Professor John McMullen of the Northern Ireland Centre for Energy Research will assess the how much of the world¹s coal reserves humanity is likely to be able to extract and, consequently, how long supplies will last. He will also look at the energy and emissions costs of coal liquefaction in order to assess whether coal is likely to be able to replace oil and gas as supplies of both decline, particularly if CO2 emissions permits are going to have to be purchased. He will also look at the ways that coal can pave the way for the wider use of biomass fuels. 12.00 The energy gain from nuclear power. Ian Hore-Lacy, General Manager, Uranium Information Centre, Melbourne, and Head of Communications, World Nuclear Association. Nuclear energy typically requires the investment of a great deal of fossil energy for up to ten years before a station comes on stream. Then, after the station has closed down, it requires the use of energy to care for its waste etc for hundreds of years into the future. His paper will discuss the net energy gain and compare it with that from various sources of renewable energy. 12.30 Discussion 12.55 Chairman's summary 13.00 Lunch 14.25 Introduction by the chairman for the afternoon, Dr. John Bowman of Comhar. (To be confirmed). 14.30 Professor Dave Elliott of the Open University on the potential amount of energy renewables might supply. In theory, the sun delivers more energy to earth than we could ever use, but in practice there are technical and environmental limits to how much of this energy can be made available for use on a sustainable basis. 15.00 Professor Malcolm Slesser of the Resource Use Institute, Edinburgh, on the energy cost of developing renewable energy sources and the consequences of doing so. He will report on an EU study he helped carry out which looked at ways of increasing energy self-sufficiency through renewables and the effects that can be expected on unemployment and economic growth 15.30 Discussion 16.00 Tea break 16.30 The time and the resources required by the European economy for the transition to renewables. Professor Olav Hohmeyer, University of Flensburg. He is a former director of the resource and environmental section of the Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, where he carried out an EU study on the long term integration of renewables into the European energy system. 17.00 ŒEnergy literacy: learning to read the conservation agenda.¹ by Dr. David Fleming, the author of The Lean Economy and the 2001 Feasta lecturer. Having an energy policy is not just about switching to renewables. Dr. Fleming believes that the big opportunities lie with conservation, and that this could lead to a radically transformed economy. 17.30 Discussion 17.55 Chairman' s summary. 18.00 Adjourn. 19.00 Conference dinner, Anner Hotel, Thurles. 20.30 Entertainment: Traditional Irish music.

Friday, November 1st

Sponsored by airtricity and GE Wind

Ireland's Energy Opportunities 08.30 Registration opens 09.25 Introduction by the chairman for the morning, Paul Kellett of Sustainable Energy Ireland 09.30 Ireland's potential renewable energy resources. A series of ten-minute reports on the potential of each type of renewable energy. Each speaker will say where the energy could be produced, how much could be available at different price levels (i.e. levels of energy investment), how long it would take to develop the resource and what the constraints such as grid capacity or government policy are. The reports will be merged by the final speaker, Kevin Healion of the Tipperary Institute, to present a composite picture 10.45 Discussion 11.00 Coffee break 11.30 How rapidly might Ireland be able develop its renewable energies? Dr. Dave Crane of the Centre for Human Ecology, Edinburgh, and Larry Staudt from the Dundalk Institute of Technology will present the results of their ECCO study of the Irish economy, specially commissioned for this conference. Dr. Crane, who developed the ECCO technique with Professor Slesser, writes: ECCO is an unusual computer model because it does not focus on a specific aspect of an economy like transport requirements, international financial flows or pollutant emissions. It deals instead with the interactions between many aspects of an economy and calculates their various rates of growth according to scenarios introduced by the modeller. By comparing results from a range of scenarios, one can get a feel for the way in which different suites of policies interact. The results can be surprising as the effects of policies unfold over a simulation run lasting typically 20-50 years. ECCO enables one to answer questions like 'will renewable energy be more viable under a protectionist or laissez-faire international finance regime?' or 'what is the latest date at which a concerted push for renewable energy might succeed?'. The aim of the model is to develop insights about the real world. Those at the conference should develop useful insights into the policy areas in which they are involved, and gain a fresh perspective on the complex material and energy flows in an industrialised economy. 12.30 Discussion 12.55 Chairman's summary 13.00 Lunch 14.25 Introduction by the chairman for the afternoon, Brian Hurley of airtricity 14.30 How EU and the Irish government's energy policies need to change - Nuala Ahern, MEP, whose talk will build on the ECCO results and the conclusions reached on the first day. 15.00 Dr. Andrew Gouldson, Lecturer in Environmental Policy, London School of Economics on the impact of EU environment policy on the development and diffusion of new energy technologies. 15.30 Discussion 16.00 Tea break 16.30 Dr. Owen Wilson, ESB Power Generation, on the steps required to build a sustainable energy system 16.50 Anne Trotter, Irish National Grid, will present 'Renewable Energy - A Transmission System Operator's Perspective', including discussion of the grid¹s limited ability to take supplies of electricity from renewable sources, most of which are intermittent, and how these might be overcome using new storage technologies and a link to the British grid. 17.10 Declan Flanagan, Regulation & Trading Manager, airtricity, on the possibility that Ireland could export green electricity rather than just selling green credits. 17.30 Discussion 17.50 Chairman's summary. 18.00 Adjourn. 20.30 The "Energy Challenge" game at the Anner Hotel. Presented by Jackie Carpenter, Director, Energy 21, the UK branch of Eurosolar, a charity whose mission is "the generation of a greater awareness and understanding of renewable energy". She says about the game "It wins hearts and minds. It will deal with the Irish energy supply, source by source. Such an exercise tends to be intuitive rather than intellectual and scientific - you may think this will lower the tone, but in fact it may provide the conference with the balance it needs."

Saturday, November 2nd.

Sponsored by Comhar, the national sustainable development partnership

The effects of greater renewable energy use on Irish life. 08.30 Registration opens 09.25 Introduction by the chairman for the morning, Jim Casey, the Mayor of North Tipperary County Council. 09.30 How the farmer's world will change I: New crops and new opportunities. Bernard Rice, Teagasc, Oak Park Research Centre, Carlow 10.00 How the farmer's world will change II: Turning difficulties into advantages. Folke Gunther of the University of Stockholm will argue that more direct links between farmers and consumers will not only be necessary in a renewables-powered economy but will bring social, economic and environmental benefits. 10.30 Discussion 11.00 Coffee break 11.30 Prof. Tom Woolley from the School of Architecture, Queen¹s University, Belfast, on growing low-energy building materials for energy-efficient buildings. 12.00 ŒThe Prospects for a Hydrogen Economy based on Renewable Energy¹. Dr. Werner Zittel of L-B- Systemtechnik, Munich, Germany. Using several primary energy sources to produce hydrogen gives flexibility and adaptibility and thus provides a robust energy strategy. 12.30 Discussion. 12.55 Chairman's summary 13.00 Brief presentations on the afternoon¹s workshops 13.30 Lunch 15.00 Simultaneous workshops. Workshop 1. Bernard Rice and Folke Gunther will lead a discussion on rural futures. Workshop 2. Werner Zittel and Ian Hore-Lacy will lead a discussion on the hydrogen economy. Workshop 3. Michael Doran, Business Development Director, Rural Generation Ltd., Northern Ireland, will lead a discussion on developing renewable energy at farm level. Workshop 4. Charlie Pinney of Cart Horse Machinery, Scotland, on comparisons of the energy used by horses and tractors. As the horse is already the cheapest way of performing some farm operations, it makes sense to start increasing the numbers of working horses now. Workshop 5. Community wind projects. Tommy Cooke of Meitheal na Gaoithe, Stan McWilliams of Bri Nua, and Seamus Hoyne of the Tipperary Energy Agency and the Templederry project will discuss their respective projects as a lead-in to a general discussion on involving communities in wind energy development. Workshop 6. Tom Woolley will lead a discussion on green building techniques 16.30 Tea break 16.55 Introduction by the chairman for the afternoon, Ciaran Lynch of the Tipperary Institute. 17.00 Wrap-up paper presenting the choices that Ireland has to make and dealing with the balance between food, feed and fuel (and raw material) production on a global level. Richard Douthwaite of Feasta . 17.40 Discussion 17.55 Chairman's closing remarks. 18.00 Conference ends. 20.30 PUBLIC LECTURE, Anner Hotel., Thurles: Bringing Back the Horse. Charlie Pinney of Cart Horse Machinery, Scotland. Conference Fees ================ Professional Rate All three days plus the two public meetings €250 Days 1&2, per day €175 Day 3 &8364;30 (Pay at the door, lunch not included) Conference Dinner €30 Space for display stand €400 Only 150 professional places are available each day so early booking is advisable. The rate includes a seat in the main lecture theatre, a full, seated lunch each day, teas and coffees in the breaks and full documentation. Economy Rate All three days plus the two public meetings €60 Days 1&2, per day €35 Day 3 €15 (Pay at the door, lunch not included) Conference Dinner €30 Only 200 economy places are available so early booking is advisable. The rate covers a seat in a lecture theatre linked by closed circuit television to the main lecture theatre, teas, coffees and a sandwich lunch. ===================== How to Book Bookings are being handled by the Courthouse Centre, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow, tel. (0402) 38529. You can pay by credit card over the phone or, if you want to pay by cheque, an invoice will be posted out to you. 10% discounts are available on the attendance charges but not the conference dinner to current members of Feasta and students of the Tipperary Institute. Accommodation Information Directions to the Tipperary Institute Conference Speakers Conference Brochure (PDF) (Requires Adobe Acrobat)