Only 6pc aiming to cut carbon emissions next year

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THE vast majority of people here don’t care about climate change, despite knowing that we must act now to avoid irreparable damage to the planet.

Only 6pc are aiming to reduce their carbon emissions in the new year, according to research commissioned by new website emissionzero.ie

Conor O Riain, director of emissionzero, said despite campaigns to raise awareness, it seems the Irish population were still not taking action on the green front.

He said emissionzero was encouraging people to make being carbon neutral one of the nation’s New Year’s resolutions as 84pc of Irish people didn’t know what their carbon footprint was.

“It’s so easy to do. The website calculates your carbon footprint for you as well as providing a huge amount of advice on how to reduce it. The emissionzero website is a fantastic tool to help people measure, reduce and offset their carbon footprint in 2009,” Mr O’Riain said.

Milestone

Meanwhile, Ireland’s renewable energy sector has reached a significant milestone with wind farm capacity passing 1,000 megawatts. That is enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes in Ireland depending on wind conditions.

The new figure was achieved recently with a batch of new connections to the power system at Loughderryduff, Co Donegal; Mullinanalt, Co Monaghan; Beallough, Co Waterford; and Mount Eagle and Muingnaminanne, both in Co Kerry.

Dermot Byrne, chief executive of EirGrid, said the new connections were important as they represented a major step in achieving the Government’s objective of 40pc electricity from renewable sources in 2010.

By Denise Clarke