mawaskow/irish_forestry_incentives huggingface dataset:
National Planning Framework commitments which will support the achievement of Ireland’s climate policy objectives include: • integrating climate considerations into statutory plans and guidelines i n order to reduce vulnerability to negative effects and avoid inappropriate forms of development in vulnerable areas ; • more energy efficient development through the location of housin g and employment along public transport corridors, where people can choose to use less energy intensive public transport, rather than being dependent on the car ; • the promotion of protection and enhancement of carbon pools such as forests, peatlands and permanent grasslands in planning -related decision making processes ; • grey adaptation which typically involves technical or engineering- oriented responses to climatic impacts, such as the construction of sea walls in response to a sea- level rise ; and • green adaptation which seeks to use ecological properties to enhance the resilience of human and natural systems in the face of climate change, such as creation of green spaces and parks to enable better management of urban micro -climates.
Climate Resear ch Research on different aspects of climate change is continuous and the two primary research organisations Government supports are the EPA and SEAI.
In relation to its climate research pillar, the EPA has established and chairs a Climate Research Coordination Group (CRCG) , whose aims and objectives of the group are to: • facilitate, support, promote co -ordination, synergies and liaison between relevant funding bodies, public and private to reduce the fragmentation in climate research in Ireland; • facilitate an exchange forum between research funders and key stakeholders, providing an interface for Irish funders of climate research ; • identify key research needs and emerging policy needs with the aim of informing the research strategy of Irish funders of climate research; review current funding and prepare a roadmap and vision for climate research in Ireland; • provide a national platform of Irish research funders in liaising/linking with European & international activities related to climate environmental research, such as Joint Programming Initiatives; Technology Platforms, and EU LIFE.
Since the publication of the Energy W hite Paper , significant progress has been made in the implementation of measures, including the enactment of the Energy Act 2016;11 publication of A Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty in Ireland (February 2016);12 development of new Public Sector Energy Effi ciency Action Plan;13 publication of a National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure ( May 2017);14 Government approval for the high level design of the new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme15for commencement in 2019 , subject to State aid approval from the European Commission; and commencement earlier this year of a Support Scheme for Renewable Heat .
The schemes are designed to provide certainty to renewable electricity generators by providing them with a minimum price for each unit of electricity exported to the grid over a 15 year period.
The schemes provide support for onshore wind, hydro and biomass technologies.
All REFIT schemes are now closed to new applications with REFIT 2 projects requir ed to be operational and connected to the grid by March 2020 and REFIT 3 projects by September 2019 in order to contribute to Ireland’s 2020 Renewable Energy Targets.
Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) High Level Design paper was approved by Government on 24 July 2018 and the scheme will now go through the EU State Aid Approval process with the first RESS auction expected in 2019.
Communities are effectively being designed into the fabric of the new s cheme and a comprehensive set of policies and support measures to increase community ownership from renewable electricity projects have been proposed.
The new scheme will also deliver a broad range of policy objectives including broadening the renewable el ectricity mix and increasing energy security, energy sustainability and ensuring the cost effectiveness of energy policy.
Forestry Programme 2014 -2020 providing grants and / or annual premiums for establishment, development and reconstitution of forests, woodland improvement, native woodland conservation.
Outside of the ETS, a national carbon tax, currently set at €20 per tonne of CO 2 emitted, was introduced on a phased basis from 2009.
The National Mitigation Plan notes that it is important that the rate at which carbon tax is set is kept under review to ensure that it is able to send a sufficiently strong signal to drive changes in household and business behaviour.
It further notes that clear long -term signalling by Government on the future evolution of car bon tax is vital.
This report was published on Budget Day and is available online 9 In Budget 2019, t he Minister for Finance welcomed the publication of the ESRI report as a first step in better understanding the environmental, social and economic impact of increasing the c arbon tax.
The scheme will provide for a renewable electricity (RES -E) ambition of up to a maximum of 55% by 2030 subject to determining the cost effective level which will be set out in the draft National Energy and Climate Plan.
The policy statement outlines the main driv ers and benefits of interconnection and provides national policy support for electricity interconnection.
REFIT 3, which is also funded through the PSO, provides support for co -firing of biomass up to 30% of the capacity of each of the three power stations (the ESB’s peat powered West Offaly and Lough Ree stations and Bord na Móna’s peat powered Edenderry station ).
This support provides a transitional period to allow Bord na Mona to plan and manage the move away from peat harvesting for electricity production.
It has revisited its strategic focus in l ight of the commitment to decarbonise and intends to accelerate the move away from traditional peat businesses into renewables, resource recovery and new business opportunities to support sustainable employment and associated economic development in the Mi dlands.
The Government’s energy efficiency schemes have already upgraded 350,000 homes throughout Ireland.
In Budget 2018 the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment secured €117m in capital and current funding for energy efficiency schemes in 2018.
Of this amount, €84m is supporting residential energy efficiency programmes, €9m is support ing projects in the public sector and €14m is support ing the commercial and industrial sector – including small businesses and farms.
It will support around 3,500 jobs, and reduce our overall dependence on imported fossil fuels.
In 2019, funding of €90 million will be invested in sustainable energy projects in 26,000 more homes, saving at least 110,000 32 tonnes in carbon emissions every year and supporting around 3,500 jobs, while also reducing Ireland’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.
The NDP commits to supports for changing out oil fired boilers to heat pumps in 170,000 homes.
Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat will stimulate and support the replacement of fossil fuel heating systems with renewable energy and contribute to meeting Ireland’s renewable energy and emission reduction targets.
The Government approved the scheme in December 2017 and it is expected to commence operation by the end of 2018 subject to European Commission State Aid approval.
The scheme will support commercial, industrial, agricultural, district heating and other non- domestic heat users in the non- ETS sector.
Residential Sector Developments in Energy Efficiency In the residential sector, Budget 2018 allowed for the expansion of the Better Energy Homes grant programme.
In addition there will no longer be any Better Energy Homes grant funding for oil or gas boiler replacements, a significa nt step towards decarbonising heating in the residential sector.
The scheme will provide for an on- going operational support (which will be paid for a period up to 15 years) for new installations or installations that currently use a fossil fuel heating system and convert to using biomass heating systems or anaerobic digestion heating systems.
A grant for heat pumps was launched in mid-September 2018 and increased grant amounts for all other measures are also now available to households.
SEAI EXCEED Certified and SSRH will operate in parallel and be complementary schemes.
In the education sector SEAI have been working with schools through the Energy in Education programme which supports schools to undertake audits and implement energy projects.
Nevertheless, both Budget s 2018 and 2019 as well as the National Development Plan clearly reflect the Government’s determination to address emissions through: (i) enhancing the capacity and quality of public transport to ensure that – where feasible - our increased transport demand is met by greener public transport (over €400m will be invested in public transport infrastructure in 2018 with a 4 year capital envelope of €27bn); (ii) investment of over €100m is committed to a multi -annual urban cycling and walking programme to support greater uptake of active travel and promote modal shift away from private car use; and based on the recommendations of the Low Emitting Vehicle Taskforce a suite of tax and expenditure measures, supported by Exchequer funding of €10m was provided in Budget 2018 while Budget 2019 will provide funding of €13 million , have been announced that 40 clearly indicate the Government’s commitment to a low -carbon electric vehicle future.
In line with several other EU States and in support of climate and public health policy, the Minister for Finance is also providing for a 1 per cent surcharge for diesel vehicles to apply across all VRT bands.
The EX CEED grant scheme supports EXCEED Certified and provides grant support of up to 30% of incremental investment or €500,000.
The grant level may be extended by 20% for small enterprises and by 10% for medium enterprises.
For 2017, EX CEED support ed 24 projects with grant assistance of €1885m which resulted in 262 GWh of efficiency gains.
It is already being utilised within the new Support Scheme 35 for Renewable Heat (SSRH) to assure energy efficiency prior to aid for renewable heat.
There is also a commitment to continually examining the potential role of taxation (both motor and vehicle registration taxes) as a means of promoting low carbon emitting vehic les.
The considerable investment of about three- quarters of a billion euro for re- configuring the bus network and infrastructure (Bus Connects) will also entail construction of significant new cycling facilities alongside bus routes on the key radial routes into the city centre and provide safe cycling arrangements, largely segregated from other traffic along those corridors 38 The Minister for Finance will be introducing a new accelerated capital allowances scheme for gas-propelled vehicles and refuelling equipment.
Biofuels Obligation Scheme The Biofuels Obligation Scheme places an obligation on fuel suppliers to include a proportion of biofuels in fuel supplied to the road transport sector.
In April 2017, a policy statement on the scheme was published which set out the increases that would be made to the obligation from the current level of 8% to 10% from January 2019 and to 11% from January 2020.
The first of these increases has been enacted by Statutory Instrument 198 of 2018.
The policy statement also sets out how the scheme will continue to be developed in line with European energy policy with progressive increases in the level of obligation post 2020.
Furthermore, good farming practices supported by the Common Agriculture Policy under Pillar 1 and the Rural Development Programme under Pillar II contribute to the protection of the carbon pool stored in Irish farmland.
The Green Public Transport Fund was established to support the uptake of low carbon, energy efficient technologies within the public transport sector and as set out in the National Development Plan, Ireland will no longer purchase dies el-only buses for the urban public service obligation (PSO) bus fleets after July 2019.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland launched an awareness campaign as part of its electric vehicle public engagement programme in April 2018 and a dedicated website – [URL] – provides answers to the questions drivers have about electric vehicles 17 See [URL] -ie/energy/publications/Documents/21/LEV%20Taskforce%20Phase1%20Progress%20Reportpdf 41 45 Annual Sectoral Mitigation Transition Statement - Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use Sector CAP Measures to Reduce Agricultural Emissions Progress has continued on implementing agriculture sector measures which have been identified in the National Mitigation Plan.
There are seven Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC standards) under the Basic Payment Schem e under CAP Pillar I.
These challenges included the need to configure CAP supports to strengthen the contribution of the agr iculture sector to the environment.
Plans must commit to a more significant environmental achievement than the current CAP supported schemes.
The Strategic Plan should demonstrate a coherent design of schemes to support environmental objectives.
Member States are obliged to offer at least one scheme.
This is an agri environment scheme applied for on an annual basis.
Payments are only provided in those cases where the beneficiary goes beyond:
(ii) Carbon sequestration and biodiversity benefits from the planting of 1, 200km of new hedges, 1,100 Traditional Orchards and 5,000 groves of native trees consisting of over 2 million native plants.
T he carbon sequestration potential of the 5,000 groves of trees on their own which equates to approximately 450 hectares of woodland is c 900 tonnes of CO 2 annually.
Of total funding of €626 million for the Rural Development Programme in 2018, €203 million of this will be for agri- environmental schemes, including the Green, Low Carbon, Agri -environment Scheme (GLAS) and O rganic Farming measures.
In addition, funding of €70m has been allocated in 2018 to the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS II); €50m to the Beef Data and Genomics Programme, and €23m to the Knowledge Transfer Programme.
The main role of the agriculture sector is in the supply of bioenergy feedstock including forest thinning and animal by -products (ABPs) such as residues from the meat processing, slurries and other agricultu ral by -products.
In 2016 there were over 34,700 tonnes of agricultural by product and processed residues and almost 21,900 tonnes of fish meal and oil available for biomass supply 45 Forestry related Measures to Reduce Sectoral Emissions Forests play an important role in climate change mitigation as they have the potential to sequester and store large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which can then be harvested as wood products that continue to store carbon over the long term and employed as a sustainable source of fuel.
In this way forests and wood products directly sequester carbon and substitute other materials that are associated with higher levels of emissions, such as steel, concrete and fossil fuels.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports the enhancement and protection of forest sinks through the afforestation scheme, regulation of felling and other policies, and supports the development of the fo rest and wood processing sector, including the promotion of a greater use of wood in the wider economy.
Forests will play an important role in meeting EU emissions reductions targets during the 2021 to 2030 period.
Based on the accounting rules of the LULUCF Regulation agreed in 2018, 22 Mt of CO 2 per annum is forecast to be accountable against Ireland’s Effort Sharing Regulation targets from afforested land.
Ensuring this figure is attained will require ongoing support for sustainable forest management and the protection of Irish forests, avoiding deforestation and continued afforestation efforts.
In 2017, 5,536 ha of new forests were planted in Ireland by private landowners under the afforestation scheme.
Based on the most recent National Inventory Report to the UNFCC C, forests in Ireland sequestered over 36 Mt of CO2 in 2016 with a further 08 Mt of CO2 being added to the carbon pool of harvested wood products.
As part of the Forestry Programme 2014- 2020, €106 million has been made available for forestry measures in 2018.
This can support the establishment of 6,600 hectares of new forests and the construction of 100 km of forest roads, which will help to produce sustainable wood products and renewable fuels.
The overall target is to expand Ireland’s forest estate from 11% to 18% by mid- century.
A mid -term review of the Forestry Programme was completed and published in 2018.
For example, increasing temperatures may lead to a lengthening of the growing season for the agricultural sector and improve growing conditions for tree species such as oak and ash in the forestry sector.
The NAF was also the subject of a public consult ation held in Spring 2016 prior to its development  51 The NAF identifies 12 priority actions and related supporting objectives that are to be progressed in order to support and advance the implementation of climate adaptation policy at national, regional and local level in Ireland Table 7 contains a summary of the progress made in progressing each of these priority actions since the Framework’s publication in January 2018.
This work will be advanced by individual local authorities supported by the Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) in their region.
“Sectoral Planning Guidelines for Climate Change Adaptation” were published in May 201822 Put in place arrangements to ensure Climate Ireland - Ireland’s Climate Information Platform is developed to its full potential as a long term operational support for climate action in Ireland 2018/2019 Local Government, DCCAE, Relevant Departments, EPA, Met Éireann, OPW, Marine Institute Ongoing.
The establishment of these offices will enable a more coordinated engagement ac ross the whole of government and will help build on the experience and expertise which exists across the sector.
Additional climate related measures across this sector which will be introduced in 2019 include: • €1035 million for improvements in grant and premium rates for planting forests;
These include increases in the rate of financial support across all categories with larger increases for broadleaf planting, an increase in the proportion of broadleaf planting in all applications to 15% and new initiatives to promote alternative silvicultural practices.
A change in supports for road building was also made to further assist landowners with the mobilisation of the existing forest estate 46 5.
There will be greater environmental conditionality on direct payments with links to requirements from other areas including the Water Framework Directive and mandatory nutrition management plans.
Of the overall CAP budget 40% must contribute to climate mainstreaming, while 30% of the Rural Development Plan, excluding payments for areas of natural constraints, must be focused on biodiversity, environment and climate related measures 42 The draft CAP Post 2020 proposal states that “Member States shall provide support for voluntary schemes for the climate and the environment”.
• Differ from the commi tments granted in the Rural Development Programme.
Work on the development of strategies will be undertaken by individual local authorities with support from the Climate Action Regional Office in their region.
Work to refine this data will continue over the coming months in advance of finalisation of the EPA’s 2019 greenhouse gas emission s projections.
In July 2017, a Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA Statement and Natura Impact Statement (which supports the Appropriate Assessment process) were published alongside the National Mitigation Pla n. The SEA Statement was prepared on foot of the SEA process and helped to evaluate, the range of environmental consequences that may occur as a result of implementing the National Mitigation Plan.
Directive 2003/87/EC relating to a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.
Emissions t rading is a ‘cap and trade’ scheme whereby an EU - wide limit or cap is set for participating installations.
At the same time, it was known that the Drumgoosat wor kings encroached under the main R179 and L4900 roads and there was concern that whatever had affected the football pitch could affect the support of the roads.
SRK Consulting (SRK), a consultancy company working for SG, the operators of Drummond and Drumgoosat Mines, had previously undertaken wor k on the underground support of the area and were commissioned to investigate the major subsidence occurrence.
WA carried out the independent check of the work by modelling the geotechnical aspects of the support system using FLAC software.
WA therefore also checked the SRK work associated with the support stability of these sections of the road, and one area was specifically targeted for further investigation as support in this area constituted a ‘slender’ pillar (pillar 12).
In conclusion WA were able to confirm the conclusio ns reached by SRK, that large scale movement of the surface outside of the main subside nce area was unlikely and that the support of the two roads, the R179 and the L4900, w as intact and robust.
The overall collapse was confined by larger static pillars surr ounding the collapse area and providing adequate support.
Wardell Armstrong th erefore believes that there will be very little further ground movement outside the area ide ntified as the area is contained by larger pillars that have been shown to be stable, even in flooded conditions 15 R179 Analysis Drumgoosat workings undermine part of the R179 road , however the pillar configurations and size are such that the majority of the road is fully supported with only settlement over time of a few millimetres happening which is typica l and expected over mine workings.
However, whilst the majority of the pillars conform to the normal configuration, Pillar 12 appeared on the mining plan to be narrow, a ‘slende r’ pillar, and WA were instructed to look particularly at the area where Pillar 12 supported the ground immediately adjacent to the R179.
Instead, to enable it to be amended, refined and strengthened over time, the Plan begins the process of development of medium- to long-term mitigation options.
To complement this large scale investment, I recently announced the launch of a new €500 million Climate Action Fund which will support the delivery of the types of transformational projects that will be necessary to advance our transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient Ireland.
Notwithstanding this, more will need to be done across Government, and with greater urgency, including in the areas of taxation, regulation and behavioural change, and we are looking at these issues closely now.
This means that more than 20% of total funding over the lifetime of the Plan will be dedicated specifically to climate action, supporting a range of additional measures.
In this regard, in order to support private investment decisions, the price of carbon should act as an appropriate signalCarbon pricing and low-carbon investmentThe Government is committed to carbon pricing as a core element of the suite of policy measures to address and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time.
The ultimate objective of the investment is to assist in ensuring a long-term, sustainable and competitive energy future for IrelandThis investment in the networks will deliver positive benefits for the overall economy, as it is a fundamental component in providing the energy/power capacity to support new investment and jobs while seeking to deliver that capacity in an affordable manner to ensure that Ireland remains competitive from an energy cost perspective.