IRJ Country Profile: Ireland

As the name suggests, Ireland is Europe’s third largest island situated north-west of the bulk of the continental mainland. Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (Eire) are two separate countries. Northern Ireland is a part of the British Isles and Eire is not.

The Census population statistics for Ireland (2006) reports that this Celtic beauty spot is home to 5,981,448 people and spans 81,638.1 km2.

MINING & GEOLOGY
Far western Eire counties such as Donegal and Galway are characterized by a metamorphic and igneous complex of Caledonide while North Ireland’s Ulster province features Ordovician and Silurian rocks.

Hydrocarbon research and exploration is quite prevalent on the island and has continued since the 1970’s when Marathon oil made a first discovery at the Kinsale Head gas field in County Cork.

In 2007 the Journal of Petroleum Energy J. Parnell announced that “carboniferous successions may have hydrocarbon source-rock potential in several districts of Northern Ireland. They have been buried to depths required for hydrocarbon generation beneath younger carboniferous rocks.”

Ireland’s mining tradition dates back to the Bronze Age.

In 1970 the world renowned lead/zinc deposit of Navan in County Meath was discovered and the demand for prospecting licenses shot up as a result.

In 1986 a lead/zinc deposit discovery known as Galmoy, situated in County Kilkenny sparked renewed interest in mining base metals in the region.

Ireland was a leading zinc producer in Europe around 2001 and an important supplier of lead, alumina, and peat too. The potential for gold, lead, and zinc exploration has been seen a revival of late which has resulted in the creation of new mines over the past 10 years.

“The development of minerals, other than turf, stone, gravel, sand and clay, is regulated under the Minerals Development Acts. Mining Leases and Licences are required and Planning Permission and an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Licence must also be obtained” the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) writes.

Within the DCENR is the Exploration and Mining Department. They are charged with:
•    The application of the Minerals Development Act to minerals exploration and development;
•    The encouragement of the early identification and responsible development by private investors of the Nation's minerals deposits in accordance with best international practice
•    Enhancing the attractiveness of Ireland for international and national minerals investment by active promotional measures.

The Department reports that mining in Ireland remains varied today. Rock salt is mined at Kilroot in County  Antrim by the Irish Rock Salt Exploration Company, gypsum is mined  in County Monaghan and dolomite limestone is produced at Bennettsbridge in County Kilkenny to name but a few.

But in 2009 the focus is of course geared towards green innovation and renewable energy. Ireland’s movements towards their 2020 targets have been very interesting.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN IRELAND
“Our mission is to promote and assist the development of sustainable energy” the Sustainable Energy Ireland’s (SEI) mission statement reads.  The SEI is Ireland’s national energy agency and was formerly the Irish Energy Centre which had been set up by the government in 2002.

Amongst their goals and activities, the SEI cites the following aims:
•improving energy efficiency
•advancing the development and competitive deployment of renewable sources of energy and combined heat and power
•reducing the environmental impact of energy production and use, particularly in respect of greenhouse gas emissions.

The DCENR reports that there has been “active co-operation” between Northern and Southern Ireland in the energy sector for some time now. In 2003 the Joint Steering Group was established. According to the DCENR, group members include senior officials from The Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and NI Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and the offices of the two Regulatory Authorities (Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) in the South and Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (NIAUR) in the North).

In 2008 the DCENR established a “working group” who completed a report called the All Ireland Grid Study. This was an investigation into the Irish National Grid with a view towards 2020 renewable energy targets. According to the report, it is “the first comprehensive assessment of the ability of the electrical power system and, as part of that, the transmission network (“the grid”) on the island of Ireland to absorb large amounts of electricity produced from renewable energy sources.”

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
It is clear that Northern and Southern Ireland, working together, place great future emphasis on renewable energy.

In June 2009, Ian Pearson, the Northern Ireland minister for enterprise, trade and investment told the BBC that his department plans for 12.5 per cent of the collective province’s energy needs to be serviced by renewable energy by 2012.

In March 2007 the DCENR published the White Paper ‘Delivering a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland’ which lays out the entire plan to achieve their targets for 2020 in line with the European Union’s 20 per cent target for all member countries.

“The White Paper, the recently launched Bioenergy Strategy, the forthcoming Climate Change Strategy and the imminent National Energy Efficiency Action Plan provide a comprehensive suite of policy initiatives which will contribute to environmental sustainability whilst at the same time delivering reliable, competitively priced energy to businesses and consumers” Bertie Ahern writes in the forward note of the White Paper.

“Building on the foundation of continued social partnership and our sound economic and social policy platform as evidenced in the National Development Plan, the White Paper provides a central contribution to ensuring that Ireland’s current success can be sustained and built on into the future, and that we constantly strive for a better quality of life for all.”

While both the potential for mining development and the lengthy strategies and measures already initiated by the Irish government in their quest for their 2020 renewable target are ever-growing, both indicate the progressive and forward-thinking culture of the energy and resource specialists in the region.