Source: Greennews.ie
June 25th, 2019
Ireland
should replace peat with US Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in its fuel
transition, a senior Trump energy official has said.
The
US under-secretary for Energy Mark Menezes made the remark at a media
brifing at Dublin Castle yesterday while attending the International
Energy Agency’s Global Conference on Energy Efficiency.
“You
have peat that you continue to use for electricity generation. That’s
not good for the environment,” Mr Menezes said.
“I
would suggest look to bring in US LNG to replace your peat, and if
you want to minimize your coal use, that is a quick way right there,”
he added.
Mr
Menezes controversially referred to natural gas as “freedom gas”,
in a news
release
from
the Department of Energy last month in reference to the Freeport LNG
terminal off the Texan coast.
“Increasing
export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to
spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s
allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy,” he said in
the release.
US LNG, Mr Menezes also noted on Monday, is “a great opportunity” that would allow for continued growth “in prosperity.”
In
response to a question on Oil Change International’s recent
report
on
the inviability of gas as a “bridge fuel”, Mr Menezes said
that
in increasing the use of renewable energy, “natural gas makes
perfect sense”, adding that the “combined cycle units are very
efficient.”
The
report issued last month found gas to be a dirty, expensive and
unnecessary fuel, one that would serve as a “bridge to climate
disaster.”
The
authors found that the idea of gas as a bridge fuel is founded on the
false assertion that natural gas is the only affordable fuel that can
replace coal on a large scale in the short to medium term.
Mr
Menezes also referred to potential operations such as the Shannon LNG
terminal off the coast of Kerry as another “a great opportunity”
as it provides “another option to bring in cleaner-burning fuel
sources to help move away from your higher-emitting sources.”
The
€500 million gas terminal has been on hiatus for the past decade
since planning permission was first granted in March 2008.
Friends
of the Irish Environment brought forward a case against the terminal
over An Bord Pleanala’s decision to extend the original 10-year
planning permission, and most recently, the case was referred
to Europe
by
the High Court in February.
When
asked about the repercussions if the
Climate Emergency Measures Bill was
to become law,
Mr
Menezes observed that “it would just make the people of Ireland
dependent even more on other countries for their energy supply”.
If
passed, the Bill would amend the Petroleum and Other Minerals
Development Act to limit the issuing of new licences for the
exploration of fossil fuels.
The
Bill was slated to proceed to Committee Stage earlier this month but
has stalled following a
letter sent
by
Minister for Natural Resources Sean Canney to Bill author to Brid
Smith TD that stated the Bill now requires a money message.
A money message is essentially a State recommendation signed by the Taoiseach approvin of legislation that will cost the State money as per Article 17.2 of the Constitution. Unless approval is received, the Bill will not progress to Committee Stage.
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