The government is withdrawing grant support for heat pumps and biomass boilers and reducing grants for other energy efficiency upgrades as part of its new Better Energy national building upgrade programme. The government has allocated an additional €30m to the programme this year in addition to the €60m set aside in this year's budget. It expects the extra funding to support an additional 2,000 jobs in the retrofit sector in 2011.
Ireland's first passive house development emerged as the big winner at the first inaugural Isover Energy Efficiency Awards in Dublin on Friday. The Grange Lough project — by developer Michael Bennett and Shoalwater Timber Frame — won first place in the competition and will now go on to Isover's European awards in Barcelona this June. This is the first time Ireland will be represented at the finals.
The pioneering energy charity Energy Action is set to hold a two-day fuel poverty conference in Dublin Castle on 7-8 February.
“The introduction of the carbon tax on fuel costs in 2010 has
further exacerbated the health and monetary problems for the fuel poor,”
said Energy Action general manager Charles Roarty. “Due to low income
and possibly debt these households will not have the funds needed to pay
for retrofitting measures, even allowing for SEAI’s Home Energy Saving
scheme grants.”
