Thank you for referring the above application to An Taisce for comment.

Given that the council has extended the lifetime of the South Tipperary County Development Plan 2009-2015, in accordance with the Planning and Development Acts 2000, as amended, until such time as the amalgamated councils in County Tipperary make a new development plan for the area(s). It is questioned whether a joint Renewable Energy Strategy should be pursued with North Tipperary in the first instance. In any case, An Taisce provides the following comments subsequent.

Please acknowledge our submission and advise us of any decision made, with all planners’ reports attached.

Introduction

The launch of this strategy on renewable energy is enervated without a national policy on energy which addresses a legally binding annual target for reduction of the national and transboundary climate emission impact of Ireland’s energy footprint in power generation, transport, heating and agriculture. There is no national strategy which addresses:

 Decarbonising energy within the timeframes required;

 A cessation dates for peat burning for electricity generation and domestic fuel;

 A cessation date for coal burning at Moneypoint;

 A programme for household energy efficiency or transport emissions targets; and

 The €6.5 billion value of fossil fuel and biofuels imported annually.

The October 2013 publication of the 5th UN Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change reinforces the imperative for international action on decarbonising all energy sources. NGOs globally including An Taisce, supported by climate science, are arguing that most existing fossil fuel reserves need to be left in the ground to achieve the carbon reductions to stabilise climate at no more that 2 degrees above pre industrial levels. This has been supported in October 2013 by Mary Robinson in advance of the IPPC Report. “There is a global limit on safe level of emissions. That means that major fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground. That has huge implications for economic and social development “ While the local opposition to fossil fuel projects is primarily on local impacts, an increasing number of climate science and export reports are outlining the mounting scientific data, which establishes that the overwhelming majority of existing fossil fuel fields, that is, coal, oil and gas, need be left in the ground.

Recommendations:

Energy Reduction and Conservation

Equitable Local Stakeholder Participation

Qualifying the Use of Biofuels

Protecting Natural Assets

Download the submission here.