FAQ
How does energy use impact on the Environment?
Most of our energy is derived from burning fossil fuels, either directly in the home or indirectly in power stations. About 98% of Ireland's final energy demand is produced by burning coal, oil, peat, or natural gas. Energy use can have many and varied detrimental impacts on the environment, most of which relate to the burning of fuel which releases pollutant substances into the air, though some relate to exploitation of renewable energy. The primary environmental impacts of energy use are as follows:
- Carbon dioxide emissions, leading to global warming
- Smoke, smog and soot
- Acid rain
- Oil spills
- Visual effect / impact
- Habitat destruction
- Noise
What are Fossil Fuels?
Many millions of years ago growing land-plants and algae in the sea took energy from sunlight; the fish & other animals ate the plants; when the plants & animals died they became buried in mud and fossilised. Under intense pressure and heat deep down in the earth plants became coal, and the animals formed crude oil & natural gas trapped in tiny pores in sandstone rock. By burning these fossil fuels to release heat from the chemical energy they contain - which originally came from sunlight millions of years ago - we can for example heat our homes or raise steam in a power station boiler. Today, most of our energy is produced using fossil fuels such as gas, oil, coal and peat. These are finite resources - sooner or later they will run out.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy comes from energy resources that are continuously replenished through the cycles of nature. Unlike fossil fuels, their supply will never become exhausted.
The main sources of renewable energy are the sun (solar energy), the wind, moving water (hydropower, wave and tidal energy), heat below the surface of the earth (geothermal energy) and biomass (wood, waste, energy crops). For more information see About renewable energy.
