Ireland: Jobs cut in switch from peat to renewables

While the IOM government and its DEFA prevaricate over climate change our neighbor to the West Ireland is taking action that will see peat harvesting by industrial means dramatically cut back and its use ended completely for energy production by 2028.

Peat production volumes hit a high of 6.5 million tonnes in 2013; Bord na Móna is planning to reduce that to 2 million tonnes in 2020 with 2028 as the deadline for an end to the use of peat for energy, two years earlier than originally planned.

Peat bogs are important ‘sinks’ for carbon dioxide as this report outlines:

http://www.ipcc.ie/a-to-z-peatlands/peatland-action-plan/climate-change-...

The move has not been welcomed by some including Unions that represent staff at Bord na Móna. The staff numbers involved at this stage are relatively small approx 500 but in relation to the economy of the area the demise of the industry could have a dramatic impact on ocal communities. Anyone who has travelled as I did (hiking on several occasions) through the Midlands of Ireland will know it comparatively undeveloped and my ‘rural rides’ preceded the major shift of rural to urban areas that has persisted in Ireland for decades.

Nonetheless the Irish government is determined it seems to address the climate change issue and the detail now seems only to centre around how the transition is managed.

This Irish Times article sets out the competing arguments

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/up-to-430-jobs-...

Bord na Móna will via this strategy continue to diversify to renewables such as wind turbines and the peat will stay where it has been for many centuries serving as a vital ‘lung’ in terms of carbon dioxide retention for the planet.

Image: Industrial harvesting of peat to be slashed over the coming decade.

Bernard Moffatt