Green Drinks 1st April - Energy Efficiency in the Public Sector

This month the Irish Wildlife Trust Dublin Branch heard Anna Heussaff from Dublin Friends of the Earth talking about the huge savings that could be made by making the public sector more energy efficient. Imagine saving at least €120 million a year in public spending without pay cuts, reductions in services or redundancies. Let’s also imagine saving over 2,000 GWh and 500 Kt of CO2 emissions equivalent at the same time, as part of Ireland’s contribution to stop climate change becoming a catastrophe.

Let’s say that all this can be done within two years. Sounds too good to be true? It’s actually government policy, but like many other policies, it’s short on urgent action.

Anna explored some examples of good practice in saving energy, and the results of research which highlights the widespread lack of action and energy wastage across the public sector. Many of the savings could be from simple things, like not leaving lights on all night, ensuring buildings are properly insulated and installing solar panels on buildings.