Our June 2021 Webinar titled ‘Strategies to reduce your Organisation’s Carbon Footprint’ takes place on Tuesday June 15th starting at 9:00am

Mirroring a global trend by all countries, the Irish Government published the – Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 (www.gov.ie) This announced an annual reduction of 7% in greenhouse gas, to support Ireland’s transition to Net Zero and achieve a climate neutral economy by no later than 2050. We can expect carbon taxes to grow, increasing the cost of energy, which will compel businesses to address a reduction in their emissions, either direct or through acquired goods & services.

The required reduction in emissions will result in the further electrification of our energy systems. Wind energy with hydro and solar making up a small percentage are available to us. All of Ireland’s renewable energy sources are therefore weather based. This results in a mismatch between times of generation and consumption leading to curtailed (i.e. wasted) electricity and interspersed with times of shortage. Energy storage costs per MWh remain stubbornly high. As renewable penetration rates increase periods of excess and of shortage will increase in both severity and frequency.

Our June 2021 webinar will explore what product and services opportunities members have in the upcoming changes.

Link to Recording of the webinar:  Energy Awareness Business Briefing

There are many strategies for industry to consider, most are active in the area of energy reduction such as replacing light fittings and installing heat pumps.

  1. In the Cork area many companies have added on site generation of electricity through wind and solar. On site solar is becoming very attractive as being generated ‘behind the meter’ as it reduces transmission and distribution costs.
  1. Renewable energy, because it has high capital but low running costs, is a price taker in the market. There is therefore a nearly perfect correlation between the wholesale electricity price and carbon content. The higher the price, the higher the carbon content. This results in the counter intuitive situation that your carbon content is not just a function of how much energy you use but also when you use it. Certain industries such as refrigeration and cement manufacture can adjust their process schedules to coincide with periods of low price/carbon.
  1. Companies with variable load or onsite generation can offer ‘ancillary services’ to the grid such as fast frequency response (FFR). These services allow for deeper renewable penetration onto the grid. Several companies such as EnelX and GridBeyond offer aggregation services to allow companies participate in these markets.

 A panel of experts, chaired by Dr Shirley Gallagher, will discuss, share alternatives and help you understand the strategies available to reduce an organisation’s carbon footprint, reducing operating costs in the process.

Dr. Shirley Gallagher, Managing Director – Syspro: Systems For Progress Limited, Technologist at IMR (Irish Manufacturing Research)

A natural self-starter, networker and collaborator, Shirley is a trained auditor, having worked as both an internal and external auditor for UK and Irish governments and private industry. She has expertise to ISO standards in energy, environmental, quality, water and health and safety as well as sustainable tourism. Shirley has regulatory knowledge, project management skills with a strong focus on quality and continuous improvement in a challenging, customer-focused environment. Shirley is an analytical chemist who has specialised in certain areas including calibration, validation quality and IT support systems. Her PhD from Ulster University investigated software and analytical solutions in ‘An Investigation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Belfast Gaswork Site’. Shirley is currently working in the circular economy, supporting Irish industry to achieve targets in reducing their use in energy, water and materials on the National circular economy platform, CirculEire.

Donal Daly, CEO – 6 Rockets, Consulting & Software Development

With a particular focus on creating and shaping strategies, 6R guides ambitious business leaders to outpace their competition and make a mark in their industries through superior execution in sales, marketing, and product management. Donal has developed an  App which allows us to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between carbon and time of use.

 

Denver Blemings, Regional Director – Ireland at GridBeyond

Denver is an experienced Account Director with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and environment industry. GridBeyond is a leading Smart Grid technology company in Ireland and the UK. It is backed by ESB and works with over 300 sites across the two regions. GridBeyond’s — EnergyConnect platform automatically manages customers’ asset demand flexibility to agreed levels during grid events, with minimal impact upon their operations, it monetises, optimises, automates and benchmarks your energy, to create a more cost effective, unified hub. Projects require zero capital spend

Colm Byrne, Director at Glas Energy,  Founder at DaysE.org

Energy Entrepreneur with 20 years industry experience in renewable energy. Extensive understanding of the energy landscape including generation, management, distribution and storage of energy. Driven by both economic and social impact with an instinctive passion to be play an influential part in the emerging distributed energy landscape providing access to clean energy for all. Blockchain enthusiast and excited about its potential in the energy sector. Glas Energy has focused on facilitating the transition to localised energy production from renewables since 2002. With over 1000 successful projects in Ireland we offer renewable energy solutions for the production and storage of both thermal and electrical energy demand. We are also actively involved in deploying solutions that will provide both individual and aggregated services to the grid operator as well as the capability to trade energy in the emerging prosumer landscape.

Jerry Sweeney, Managing Director – CloudCIX Ltd.

Jerry’s career spans forty years in the IT sector ranging from Semiconductor Manufacturing,  Software Development and Data Centre design and operation. CloudCIX Limited operate Cork Internet eXchange, a regional data centre serving the Munster area.

 

Host for this business webinar will be

Sean Sheehan, CEIA Chairman