merrion street

As European Energy Ministers started their meeting in Dublin Castle this afternoon Minister Rabbitte put the agenda in context: “All the Minister gathered here today are essentially focussed on a single issue – how to keep energy prices down. This is essential to boost Europe’s competitiveness and to minimise the impact of the economic crisis on people’s day to day lives. “Of course the prices of so-called “carbon fuels” – gas, oil and coal are fixed internationally. We can’t cap them. We can do plenty of other things though. “Firstly, we can control how much we use. That’s why a major topic this week is energy efficiency. By investing in the quality of our buildings – better insulation, new boilers and so on – we can save a lot of money on heating and create employment at the same time. It’s a win-win. “Secondly we can be much smarter about when we switch things on and off than we used to be. The internet can give all of us control of how much energy we use. This morning we heard that 1.6M Irish people have smart phones. All those people could use the phone in their pocket to control the heating in their homes and save money. Not may do so today but in a couple of years that will be normal. Energy ministers want to accelerate the pace of this sort of initiative by introducing smarter energy meters for example. “Thirdly, there are power sources that are not based on carbon – that we can harness from nature. In Ireland that is mainly wind. Further south in Europe that is mainly solar power. My colleagues and I are discussing how we can get the best out of these renewable energy sources. Can old fashioned storage heaters be replaced with clever ones that soak up heat from wind power when it is blowing a gale and release it when it is freezing? The answer is yes. We need to invest in a smart electricity grid to get the benefits of this. It can be done and it will mean we get better value from our spend in renewables. “Finally, we are looking at so called unconventional sources of oil and gas. We have taken note of the remarkable impact of new gas discoveries including shale gas on the US Energy market. It has given a striking boost to the US Economy. One that may have an impact on supply of gas here in Europe. Several EU member states are weighing the benefits and risks of exploiting shale gas reserves. We are comparing notes on this issue for the first time today.