Ireland replaces peat with... sustainability? > Likes and Comments
Update on the topic, involving the union and jobs. This is a part of the country where there generally aren't any other jobs. https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-...
Here is the press release from BnM a few weeks ago.
https://www.bordnamona.ie/company/new...
And information on the website about how they are co-burning (which means mixing with peat) and reducing the carbon impact of the power plants today.
https://www.bordnamona.ie/company/our...
Not mentioned is that garden waste forms part of the native supply. Also, if the forests to be planted are only Sitka spruce, that is bad for biodiversity.
Bord na Mona currently operates four windfarms. Ireland is on the shores of the Atlantic and peat bogs are generally flat. Great places for wind. But the turbines can harm birds.
https://www.bordnamona.ie/company/our...
Solar parks are also planned.
A lot of countries trying to protect their own forests buy wood from other countries who are selling it. It just shows how hard it is to avoid conflicts with the natural world. The world still ends up being deforested. Because of a large historical debit current estimates for sustainability or even just replacing what we are taking out of the natural world says that we plant or replace 3 things for each item we take out. And we don't try to harvest those 3 items for at least a hundred years. There are wind generators that are less harmful for birds but they are vertical towers and I figure you need many of them to replace just one big blade wind generator and they're probably very expensive.
Here's a very enjoyable article about cutting the turf by hand today and yesterday. https://www.independent.ie/life/john-...
Planning permission refused to convert that power plant to mixed biomass.Partly because burning peat is unsustainable.
Partly because of increased heavy road traffic bringing other materials.
Partly because no clear and guaranteed source of other biomass was provided in the documents.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irela...
A site called the Green News has a very interesting background article.https://greennews.ie/esb-abp-peat-bio...
Including:
" Biomass trials
Bord na Mona had planned to import 37,000 tonnes of woody biomass from Australia to be used for a series of biomass trials at the ESB’s power stations.
Documents released to The Green News under Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations last year show that the ESB has previously carried out trials of biomass provided by Bord na Mona.
Biomass samples provided include sunflower husk from Eastern Europe and palm kernel shells from Asia, the latter of which Bord na Mona stopped importing in 2017 following an Irish Times investigation into the sustainability of the product coming mainly from Indonesia.
In March, Bord na Mona refused to release data on its biomass imports for 2017 and 2018 to The Green News following an AIE request.
Similar information from 2010 to 2016 was previously released to The Irish Times, with the paper finding that the semi-state was importing palm kernel shells from plantations in some of the world’s most biodiverse countries without knowledge of whether they have been sustainably sourced.
Following the investigation, Bord na Mona agreed to stop importing the product and would review the future supply of biomass “guided by the company’s sustainable business criteria”. "
I missed that one, I did not know they were supporting the palm oil business. Glad they stopped.
In a sidebar I also see:
" The High Court has temporarily suspended the coming into force of new regulations that would remove industrial-scale peat extraction projects from the planning system due to concerns over breaches of European environmental law. https://greennews.ie/court-regs-peat-... … "
I don't know if the new regulations were Irish originated or EU originated. Probably EU.
Peat bog extraction and preservation are issues covered in this article which looks at the decline of Ireland's habitats and species. https://greennews.ie/stark-assessment...
Nine small scale turf harvesters are being denied planning permission to carry out drainage works. Controversially they are being offered other peatlands to cut in place of a preserved bog. https://greennews.ie/turf-cutter-abp-...
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/...Latest plans to rehabilitate the peatlands. This will provide jobs.
A good article on Scotland's efforts to restore peatland, for comparison. https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-pea...
The bog thing is reading like classic Green Fallout. Its like the bio diesel fuel palm plantations, another classic green Fallout. Peat sounds like something from the 1890s. The next thing that will happen is that the increased rains will bring even more water to the peat land on top of the water out flow from the peat fields that is attempting to be reversed. Sounds like the peat is an "inland sea" of sorts. At least there doesn't seem to be plastic in the peat seas.To try and control their numbers, deer management groups have been set up across Scotland.
Its not one species that is doing the damage, it's the unbalanced dysfunctional interactions of too many of some species and not enough or none of other species. Plus man lending a hand wherever a profit is sensed.
There has been so many studies that show that without wolves and other big animals in the mix, woodlands and fields, the other species and the land will always be dysfunctional by the way we try to manipulate it into something we want the land to be, something that can never be functional except in an art museum as a piece of art hanging on the wall.
Great articles on Scotland where a landowner has hopes of reintroducing wolves.https://www.npr.org/sections/parallel...
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/1...
Those were 2018 and this one, largely the same rewritten with some more scientific terms added, is 2019.
https://www.nathab.com/blog/bringing-...
" But since wolves are in every country in Europe except for Great Britain, "
Ahem. They are not in Ireland. Except in Dublin Zoo.
This may have a bearing on the use of peat or not: nice infographic on the population shifting from very rural homes to urban and mid size towns. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news...
Rural homes are more likely to burn solid fuel.
That makes sense. The winding down is a byproduct of shifting populations, not from an organized effort to get rid of it, it is the best economic decision.
A bog which was degraded but is being restored, is now threatened by an application to create a quarry nearby.https://greennews.ie/quarry-plans-abb...
Ireland is making good progress towards its sustainability goals. https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2...
Projects like the state's offices replacing boilers and replacing old fluorescent tube lighting with LED ones are making a great contribution.
Still some harvesting of peat from existing opened bogs. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/...
There's not a lot of other work in Co. Offaly.
The work of government formation is still under way here, slowed by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Greens are in formal talks about government now, and they want any coalition to reduce carbon emissions by 7% annually. They'll also want an end to peat harvesting sooner than soon.
Most of our emissions by single source, would come from agriculture - cattle, dairy, pigs, sheep.
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2020...
Moving forward on offshore windfarms. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020...
"Rosslare Europort has been chosen by XELLZ as a supply base for future offshore windfarm projects in the Irish and Celtic Sea as well as UK east coast and continental Europe.
The Dutch firm has secured 200,000 sq m of land next to the port.
This will be segmented into zones and the new Rosslare Europort Business Park will be built there.
The Dutch business will subsequently develop an offshore wind farm supply base for delivery of turbines and other components, through subsidiaries 24shore and XELLZ Ireland."
The peat industry and horticulture. Not mentioned, some cities are growing mushrooms on coffee grounds nowadays.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/...
"The output value for the sectors that used peat as an input in 2018 is detailed as follows: Mushrooms (€117 million); protected fruit (€38 million); protected vegetables (€29 million); nursery stock (€36 million); and protected ornamental crops (€19 million).
The report estimates that approximately 50% of the total horticulture industry output of €437 million is dependent on peat as a growing medium."
So what happens to the agricultural industry dependent on the peat and everything connected to it? Are there substitutes available that are more expensive no one wants to use or is there nothing to make up for the peat?
For some decades, anyone who was concerned about using peat has had alternatives. One is imported cocoa shell. This is the waste product from the cocoa industry and the downside is shipping, plus plastic bags. Another nowadays is coffee grounds which could be substantial with commercial coffee shops on the high streets.
Another has been brewers' grounds, also called brewers' grains, but they are generally fed to animals like cattle and horses.
Mushroom growers traditionally used sterilised horse bedding straw, or woodshavings as many horse owners now use, and nowadays they add chicken litter, especially if the chickens were kept on newspaper shred, which turns out to be a well balanced combination.
Private gardeners are encouraged to buy compost bins but this isn't always practical, and there's always the option to import compost or buy organic farm compost.
Greenwaste from gardens is used by collecting it in depots around the city, bringing it to a worked out bog and composting it to a high temperature to kill off weed seeds. The compost has to be shredded first by a giant machine imported from America, and is piled in long high rows and turned by a machine like a JCB (Case backhoe). I used to see this being done in the park area where I brought clippings, but the locals complained, although they used the greenwaste facility themselves, and it was closed.
If you want to read the story of developing this alternative medium I have posted it in an article on Medium.
https://medium.com/@clareobeara/decli...
The main point of the article is the decline of the Curlew, a wetland and bogland bird. Lots of inline links for you to follow as well.
"ESB and the Irish-owned renewable energy company, Harmony Solar, are pleased to announce that they have entered into a multi-million Euro partnership to develop ground-mounted solar projects in Ireland. Phase one will develop Harmony Solar’s existing 300MW portfolio primarily in Wexford and Kildare, with further phases on track to develop a total portfolio of over 1,000MW of large-scale solar projects.The development pipeline of the partnership will see an initial capital investment of €30 million, with further investment in the medium to long term as the pipeline comes to fruition.
Solar energy is a key part of ESB’s Brighter Future strategy which seeks to shift electricity generation away from fossil fuels by developing renewable projects of scale, and in doing so, lead the transition to a low carbon energy future based on clean, reliable and affordable electricity. This partnership has the potential to provide renewable electricity for approximately 230,000 homes – over ten percent of Ireland’s households.*"
https://esb.ie/tns/press-centre/2020/...
Country cottages - some are preserved so can't be altered, and some lie in wrack and ruin. Several counties will not allow new builds or insist the footprint of an existing cottage is used. Here is one example of how a cottage was adapted to be a sustainable modern option.
https://www.independent.ie/life/home-...
Not just peat: forestry as well. The forests around Dublin have been called the Pine Forest for generations because they were all dark timber trees; Sitka spruces. They are managed by State forest firm Coillte. Now many areas are going to be declared preserved for biodiversity and public recreation. Thinning will be the best option with planting of Scots pine and broadleaf. In small areas a last clearcut will be replaced by diverse woodland.
https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2020/0...
When the IMF and ECB came to Ireland after the economic crash, one of the actions they wanted us to take was to sell off the State forests. We refused.
Ireland is still trying to form a government over three months past the elections. The Green Party is aiding in negotiations and wants to cut carbon emissions by 7% per year. https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0603/114...
This year will be no problem, but getting a whole economy functioning again will be priority for every party. The Greens want to clean up and green up at the same time.
The IMF is one the most far flung destroyers of natural diversity. There is no rhyme or reason to their actions, just cutting short term costs with long term ramifications.
I hadn't looked at it that way, Robert. We had tended not to be exposed to the IMF until they came to tea.
Ireland's Low Carbon Pledge. "The Low Carbon Pledge is a commitment for Irish business to invest time and resources into creating a more sustainable operation – by being more energy efficient and reducing carbon usage.
All signatory companies commit to reducing their Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emission intensity by 50% by 2030."
https://www.bitc.ie/the-leaders-group...
Offshore wind power. Ireland and Denmark are two of the best-situated countries in the world for this energy resource. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020...
"Dr David Connolly, the CEO of the Irish Wind Energy Association, said in the years ahead, offshore wind farms will play a huge part in meeting Ireland's 2030 targets set out in the Government's Climate Action Plan.
"About a year ago the Government set a target to develop 3.5 GW of offshore wind by 2030, from practically a starting point of zero. In the Climate Action Plan, what became very apparent was just how important of a role offshore wind energy will play," Dr Connolly said.
"In terms of the entire carbon emissions that the Government wanted to save in the plan, offshore wind energy alone will account for about 25%," he said.
In addition to reducing Ireland's carbon emissions, Dr Connolly said the creation of offshore farms will offer a "significant" boost to the Irish economy over the next decade.
....
"Currently there isn't a single port capable of delivering the construction phase of an offshore wind farm. If we invest in a port now, that could be ready in a few years time when we start constructing these offshore wind farms and we would increase our capability from about one fifth of the potential to about one third," he said.
"That is a real opportunity for Ireland to harness not just the 2,500 direct jobs, but to expand that further if we invested in a strategic port," he added.
The report provides an examination of the suitability of 16 ports for supporting the construction of offshore wind farms in Irish waters."
Irish Water, which was formed by taking the work away from the County Councils and was intended to be privatised and sold off until the public refused to countenance this, has done some more outsourcing. They already outsource the pipe work to private firms - I recall the first thing Irish Water did was spend a lot of money on managers and get rid of jobs, which is always what happens when water gets privatised. Some unfortunate areas get undrinkable water for weeks every year; last year Dublin took its turn.
Now IW are outsourcing the IT systems and customer service. I am not quite sure why, because the Irish consumer refused to pay the water bills, marching in some cases every week of the year until the government backed down and refunded any already paid.
IW has an oversight role in checking septic tanks, so that might be the answer. Can't quite see Capita doing that from the UK.
If you want to know more - and I know very little about Capita:
https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/1...
The practice of not providing a viable, functional customer service has put a lot of people out of work permanently. People's intuition, logic, and experience at handling problems people are having can't be replaced by automated programs. It is a way of saving money, increasing profit, stifling unwanted feedback, and enabling people to market grade "D" products as grade "A" products which they aren't. It is not a way of solving problems.
Not to mention, the outsourcers often outsource work for cheaper, maybe to India. If it's just phone lines and online chat support. I don't know what will happen here.
RTE tells us the government already has a climate action fund and could do more with the money. The minister's statement says they can get more money into it by taking some of the existing tax take from oil firms "so it won't cost the government anything." Ah but it will because now they'll have to find new sources of income to keep running hospitals.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0622/114...
The cost of cleaning hospitals has skyrocketed. It didn't help that the cleaning of the hospitals was considered an unimportant job and a profit loser, so minimum wages were paid and sometimes, cheap, common substances were used. That is why hospitals were a major source of diseases people could get simply by going to the hospital. It was a scandal coming down the road but got preempted by the corona situation. The number of hospital contracted infectious disease cases were growing each year. That was one reason why the effort to cut insurance payments so people would get out of the hospital sooner seemed to be a good idea. Now that the hospitals are being thoroughly cleaned, and how long will that last, the hospitals are bragging that they are completely safe to go to now.
Hospitals in Ireland, it must be said, were pretty clean. Some were cleaner than others, according to nurses. I am sure they are all sparkling and sterile today.
Guinness had a big drop in sales, given their beer is mainly sold from pubs. This beer can't be sold past a use-by date, because it goes off. Bars around the world were returning unsold kegs of beer. Guinness found some nice green ways to use this fertile medium.
"The closure of the pub and restaurant trade has had a massive impact globally. The true scale of the lockdown on the sector has emerged as Diageo confirmed that the St James's Gate Brewery was only brewing to maintain its vital yeast during the lockdown.
That is something which has not happened since the 1916 Rising.
Production at St James's Gate is now at full capacity as the global reopening of bars and restaurants looms.
Director of Operations at the brewery Aidan Crowe said that the stocks of beer on site were meeting retail demand during the lockdown.
The company has also outlined how it is dealing with "hundred of thousands of kegs" from around the world that have been returned because they are out of date.
The beer will be used to provide fertiliser for willow and Christmas tree plantations. It will also be used for composting and much of it has been sent to anaerobic digestion to make bio-gas.
In announcing the Diageo fund, the company is also calling on governments to provide long-term recovery packages for the hospitality sector."
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/...
Local HEP sounds good as Ireland is not short of rivers. Green Hospitality is a feature now of hotels and other holiday stops.
The Falls Hotel in Ireland runs on HEP from the waterfall beside the hotel.
https://www.fallshotel.ie/green-hospi...
"One of the biggest sustainability projects we took on was to install a hydro electric turbine on the river running alongside us. This was a two year project and was done in consultation with the local county council, the fisheries board, environmental experts and consultants in hydro power. We installed a 220 kilowatt hydro turbine. When the river is in full flow, we are getting 100% of our electricity needs from the river. In doing so, we have dramatically reduced our dependency on carbon fuels, to the point where we are now a carbon neutral property. We are very proud of this achievement. By staying with us, you are also having a positive impact on your carbon footprint!
During your stay, if you would like more information on our turbine, please just ask us!
Other of our Green Policies include:
The Falls Hotel & Spa is a proud member of Green Hospitality
We have significantly reduced our carbon footprint by installing a hydro electric turbine on the river alongside us and running on hydro power
We do not use plastic straws or cups
We use chemical free cleaning products throughout the hotel
We have two active beehives on our property
We have cultivated wildflower gardens around the hotel
We are members of the Burren Ecotourism Network, which focuses on protecting and maintaining the sustainability and promoting responsible tourism for the Cliffs of Moher and Burren UNESCO Geopark, where we are privileged to be located.
We send e-invoices were possible to reduce the amount of paper that we use
We have an electric car charging point here in the hotel for guests’ use."
Coastal erosion is another issue in certain parts of the island. If you want to encourage people to take beach walks and play golf, it helps if the sea doesn't eat the landscape. https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2...
"Mr Kemmy said local people in Ballyliffin are prepared to do the work themselves to restore the pathway at Pollan Strand but they cannot get permission. The golf club too is prepared to raise funds and use the natural resources on the shore to protect the course, but also cannot get permission.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Martin McDermott said the problem is that responsibility for coastal erosion falls between too many stools including local authorities, government departments, the Office of Public Works and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
All have a role to play, but none has overall responsibility and it is local communities and their vital amenities and tourism which suffers as a result, he said. "
Biodiversity loss is a huge problem in Ireland as elsewhere. From BirdWatch Ireland:
"BirdWatch Ireland broadly welcomes the publication earlier this month of the Programme for Government. Upon detailed review of the document, we can confirm that it mentions biodiversity 50 times, including in the sixth sentence of the document. This is significant progress since the 2016 Programme for Government, in which biodiversity was not mentioned at all.
On 9th May 2019 Dáil Éireann declared a biodiversity and climate emergency, based on grave national and international scientific evidence that humanity was a having a devastating impact on habitats, on species and on our climate. BirdWatch Ireland submitted 50 detailed sectoral and cross cutting "asks" in advance of government formation talks, based on our Manifesto for Nature to address the biodiversity emergency. Two of those asks have been included in the Programme for Government, and there are partial commitments to six others."
https://birdwatchireland.ie/the-progr...
Anywhere land is converted for any kind of human use by anyone, the first thing that goes out the window is bio diversity. There is nothing less bio diversifying than planting a building on an undeveloped piece of land or covering the land with bands of artificial surfaces that mimic bondage.The coastal erosion problem is the result of many complex forces at work, sometimes at cross purpose to each other. This can cancel out erosion or accelerate it, or leave it pretty much up to chance.
A lot of coastal erosion solutions consist of blocking the forces that cause the the erosion, making it less severe but do nothing to stop the underlying forces. Another solution is to keep replacing the lost material. This can be done yearly, or after a very intense storm that rearranges the landscape and or removes the land.
Nice balance to above: the current Lord Dunasany has been quietly rewilding his estate and has joined a rewilding network. He now realises he needs to show that this can be an economically sustainable model too. "Dunsany has become a safe haven for a wide range of species, many of which are in decline across Ireland. Otters have returned – the first time the species has been seen on the estate in my lifetime. We have pine martens, stoats, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers and barn owls. Red kite and snipe have returned. We have seen a big increase in insects – with a massive surge in butterflies – and we now see many different bat species. Even endangered Irish species such as corncrakes have come back. Nature really is flourishing."
https://rewildingeurope.com/news/euro...
EU is taking Ireland to court for not protecting environmental sites. "The European Commission has referred Ireland to the court after running out of patience waiting for action to safeguard the 423 sites.
Almost six years have passed since the deadline for placing protections on the sites expired but the legislation setting out EU members states' responsibilities in this area dates back to 1992.
In its complaint to the court, the Commission said Ireland identified 423 habitats as "sites of community importance" to be designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
Designation provides legal protections and requires conservation programmes.
But 154 of the sites have not yet been formally designated as SACs despite the deadline expiring in December 2014, and the State did not follow through with the necessary protections for the others.....
"Ireland has three months to comply with a direction to see that environmental impact assessments are carried out on peat harvesting or else the case may be referred to court.
Bord na Móna has suspended peat extraction because of related cases in the Irish courts but Friends of the Irish Environment, which initiated the complaints, welcomed the commission's move.
In its warning, the commission noted environmental impact assessments had been required under EU law since 1988 but Ireland has had "numerous problems" applying the law and "significant peat extraction" continued.
A second warning relates to failure to establish a penalty points system for violation of fisheries regulations by vessels sailing under the Irish flag.
The court last year fined Ireland €5m plus daily penalties of €15,000 for failure to assess the environmental impact of constructing the Derrybrien windfarm, in Co Galway, where a massive landslide in 2003 caused extensive damage to the countryside.
The State remains in breach and the daily penalties have now mounted to €3m."
https://amp.independent.ie/news/envir...
New Irish EPA report."Summary: Globally, climate change will have wide-ranging effects on all aspects of society, the environment and the economy. This is particularly the case for urban areas, which represent only a small fraction of the Earth’s surface (less than 3%) but are where more than half of the global population resides and concentrations of assets and economic activities are found.
Published: 2020"
http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/resear...
The cost and impacts of Climate Change are becoming a key part of the corporate balance sheet. That information has gone from a footnote at the end of the document to a major clause that is easy to see. It's always the cost that changes people's minds. It is my opinion that the description of "urban" land could use some updating.
Urban activity is only affecting 3 percent of the Earth's surface but a considerable portion of the remaining land is also severely impacted by the urbanization. We should be lost between great expanses of forest land and plains that roll forever, all filled with diverse animal life and plant life.
The plotted fields and mining pits are all part of the built up city infrastructure, even if they only look like plain old pieces of land.
For all intents and purposes, any kind of commercialized mono culture or minimal cultured land, this includes all types of agricultural and mining activities, should be lumped in with urbanized city property. They are specialized parking lots. They have no functional biodiversity to talk about.
The bricks that build the cities range from small pieces of concrete to horizon to horizon expanses of land.
All the development leads back to the cities, so the connections and the operations should all be part of the total urbanized property, thus making that 3 percent more like 30 percent. All the far flung transportation pathways and everything on them linking the urbanized areas together are part of the urban territory even though they are nowhere near the heartlands of the inner cities.
The West of Ireland used to be home to great numbers of shy birds like corncrake, bittern, curlew. One vet has been farming nettles and flag iris to recreate a safe home for the corncrake. This report says he is doing well. His rewilding also produces cover for the twite and bumblebee.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0716/115...
He did a really fine job. When you make a natural habitat functional all kinds of creatures will find it and stay. The corncrake is an interesting looking bird.
Another report today about the natterjack toad. Note that the farmers are being paid each year to create and leave farm pond for the toads. But the hot dry spring dried up many ponds.
This is a rare and endangered species in Ireland, I don't know why its range is not broader.
https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2020/...
But only if the biomass was grown in Ireland.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/...
I can't believe they want to import wood from Australia to burn.
Shipping wood product half way around the world is unsustainable. Giant cargo ships produce the foulest emissions on the planet as they burn sludge oil. The waste from car engine oil and oil refinery heavy sludge. Trucking the wood from ports to stations will add to road traffic and fumes in environmentally sensitive areas of bogland.
And Australia has been reaching appalling rates of deforestation, as we've reported in other threads.
Nobody in the article even mentions the probable import of fungal matter, diseases and pests with the timber products (probably pellets). This is a known known around the world, as opposed to a known unknown. Our native biodiversity would have no immunity.