JOINT IHEEM NI AND ROI 2022 CONFERENCE
Dublin’s Croke Park stadium was the venue for May’s IHEEM joint Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland Branch conference.
level of interest. It put forward a range of potential policies that could form the basis of the Strategy. She said: “These policies represented options being considered at that time based on the work carried out so far, and were neither exhaustive, nor represented any final policy decisions. We focused on options that we believed offer the best short-term decarbonisation opportunities – such as renewable electricity, and energy efficiency, while also ensuring that we remained at the forefront of trialling and testing any new and emerging technologies with significant medium to long-term potential.” Pointing to her slides, the speaker added: “So, as you can see on the screen, the proposals were strongly supported by respondents, and included overwhelming support for our proposed goal, vision, and principles.” In addition to the consultation document, the team held five workshops directly involving domestic consumers, and surveyed 150 businesses to gain an understanding of the issues they face. Erin Savage said it had been ‘vitally important’ that the new strategy complement the work going on across the Executive on the new Green Growth Strategy, which provides the framework ‘to tackle climate change, improve our environment, and grow our economy’. “We also,” the speaker said, “had to ensure alignment with a 10X economic strategy (Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy says a 10X Economy is ‘a transformational mindset centered on what can be achieved with the right levels of ambition’. The concept ‘embraces innovation to deliver a ten times better economy with benefits for all our people’), and the new Climate Change Bill. Finally,” Erin Savage explained, “the Strategy needed to address the three limbs of the energy trilemma by addressing costs to
18 Health Estate Journal October 2022
The conference, titled ‘Delivering Sustainable Healthcare Estates’, saw 360 delegates attend, and attracted high-profile speakers.
domestic and commercial consumers, the impact on the environment, and by guaranteeing security of supply through the transition to a sustainable future.”
Long-term vision The Path to Net Zero Energy was published on 16 December 2021, ‘setting a long-term vision of Net Zero carbon and affordable energy for Northern Ireland’. Erin Savage explained: “This will lead to the highest levels of energy efficiency, reducing the amount of energy we need, while ensuring that the energy we do use comes from renewable resources.” At this point two targets to drive these changes were being set. She elaborated: “The first is to deliver energy savings of 25% from buildings and industry by 2030, and the second is to meet at least 70% of the electricity consumption from a diverse mix of renewable sources, also by 2030. So,” she added, “the Energy Strategy is also about growing our economy and supporting that 10X economic vision. Our investments in clean energy can deliver substantial economic benefits – attracting investment to Northern Ireland, and positioning our companies to compete for the global investment being made in low carbon energy technologies.” An economic target had thus been set to double the size of Northern Ireland’s
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low carbon and renewable energy economy, to a turnover of over £2 bn by 2030.
What is meant by ‘affordable energy’? She continued: “So in terms of our vision, Net Zero carbon energy means that overall greenhouse gas emissions from energy are zero, which will require us to reduce the emissions from the energy we use for transport, electricity, industry, and our built environment, as well as removing any remaining emissions for schemes that offset an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.” While energy provided value ‘in enabling our comfort, leisure, and basic needs’, affordable energy could mean different things to different consumers. For example, energy bills could be a major concern for households on lower incomes. Erin Savage said: “We plan to review those drivers and definitions of energy affordability, including the balance of upfront investment, and long-term energy bills, as well as data development.”
In line with CCC recommendations The Northern Ireland Energy Strategy targets a 56% reduction in energy-related carbon emissions relative to 1990 levels by 2030 – in line both with the Climate Change Committee’s recommended ‘pathway’ for Northern Ireland to achieve Net Zero carbon by 2050, and is also
Erin Savage: “In terms of our vision, Net Zero carbon energy means that overall greenhouse gas emissions from energy are zero, which will require us to reduce the emissions from the energy we use for transport, electricity, industry, and our built environment”
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