"Green" policies are destroying this country

Thanks for sharing, interesting info. Haven't seen any hybrid or electric buses down here in the people's Republic but that doesn't mean they're not in use.

The rail system should be electrified too! Rather than the Cork to Dublin or any other train belching out diesel fumes every day. It's a fixed distance journey so the required battery capacity should be easy to calculate.

I make the point because they're seems to be an onus on private individuals to convert to electric vehicles. It needs to be done l, but personal financial circumstances are a barrier. I'd change to electric car but right now I can't afford to.

Whereas converting the public transport infrastructure is more doable based on the huge surplus in public finances the goverment keeps on bleating on about. If we have that kind of surplus let's put our money to work and make some positive changes.

If you increase shipping costs that cost get passed to the consumer.

You do understand this….right?

John gibbons lmfao , you have lost the plot

In my honest opinion, the green agenda and a lack of coherent economic policy to back any of it up is going to be found out like the crypto. We will find out who is wearing shorts when the tide goes out as Warren buffet says and the greens are bollock naked. None of their **** stands up to any scrutiny

Was the question asked if all of them were prepared to forgo their holidays in Spain?, France? etc

Was the question asked if the respondents were prepared to give up their SUVs, RVs etc.

It was in my ----.

Thanks. Very good post explaining the system.

As I said I am not an expert, but I do know that wind and solar need a back up and cannot be the only source as others have also said.

Not in favour of nuclear at all and I do know that the nuclear plants are costly to repair and up keep pnce they start to corrode, never mind the offensive waste products which as child of the 70s and 80s I just can't accept.

I would in fact be more in favour of more slowly winding down our dependance on fossil fuels but still use them when a more suitable alternative is not available. I don't consider taking nuclear generated energy from France or any country to be acceptable to a country that has very vehemently eschewed building nuclear reactors.

There has to be another way.

By the way my comnent about the geography of Germany as opposed to ours is that we being an island nation off the edge of the windy Atlantic, is superior for wind power, notwithstanding some very unseasonal doldrums earlier this year.

I am somewhere in the middle /on the fence about the op's premise.

While I agree with some green policies I think the Green don't appear to have the talent of reading the room, maybe that is because they have to be very passionate about these policies to the detriment of everything us middle of the road souls worry about, like houses and food, and keeping warm and a car (any car!) on the road.

Its all coming back to me now how absolutely one dimensional they were when they were last in government, after the crash.

Sorry only getting back to reply now, as the thread has moved on considerably since you and others replied.

Even the German Greens retain a vestige of pragmatism. They are building both floating and permanent LNG terminals and the Green economy minister has just struck a deal with Qatar to supply LNG for fifteen years from 2026. It's only 3% of annual needs, though, so Germany will still be burning coal in the 2040s and wondering where it all went wrong.

Obviously our own environment minister is determined to remain untainted by any consideration of real-world needs.

Would you mind explaining why you are so against Nuclear? I am also a child of the 70s and 80s and was subject to the same scare tactics from the likes of Greenpeace and various Cold War films. When I read into it though, most, if not all of the fears are misplaced. It's worth looking into the likes of https://www.18for0.ie/ as there's a lot of interesting information out there.

Fair dues, you expressed your views well, and while you are not a fan of nuclear for a few reasons I`m not sure the on-going repair and corrosion when compared to offshore stand up. This E.S.B. plan for offshore of 30 Gigawatts nameplate capacity is going to be much more expensive in those areas. Wind turbines are meant to have around 25 years of a lifespan, but a bit of a stretch Imo when you are placing them in a offshore environment. From the U.K. we know that just the initial offshore construction costs for this plan will be anywhere between €83 Bn and €120 Bn. to supply 6.3 Gigawatts of domestic supply. Once those turbines reach their end of lifespan, even after the maintenance costs in the meantime they are going to have to be either refitted or replaced. That would be every 20 -25 years, and that is not going to be cheap. Present nuclear plants have a lifespan of 60 years, in that time offshore maintenance and refit/replacement is going to come to at least the initial cost of €83 Bn - €120 Bn.

There has been a lot said about offshore having a much greater rolling capacity than onshore, but when compared to our nearest neighbours their really isn`t that great a difference. The rolling capacity for onshore here is around 35%. U.K. offshore is 43%, which I can only assume is the reason that the E.S.B. plan for offshore is for 30 Gigawatts which would leave us with around 6.3 Gigawatts for domestic consumption. I know it`s a whole other issue, but when you factor in hydrogen generation construction costs, production, storage and generation all of which will be paid for by the consumer I believe we should be told just how much this is going to cost, because just from the little we can see from the U.K. figures it would not be the cheap clean energy we were promised.

I`m not saying that nuclear doesn`t have problem, but if greens really are as concerned about this doomsday scenario they are predicting from emissions then stubbornly during their heads in the said by refusing to even examine a source that is 100% CO2 neutral is just being hypocritical. Especial with them being happy to piggy back it of others.

Passion if all fine and dandy, but ignoring reality and financial viability isn`t a plan, it`s an impractical wish list based on nothing other than their again one dimensional thinking we saw from the last time they were in government.

Greens don't mind where we get the energy from as long as it is nimby.

I think that rural TDs should propose the erection of windmills in Bushy Park, St Stephens Green, Herbert Park, Phoenix Park, Fairview Park etc as an immediate step to help Ireland meet its green energy targets. If it is good enough for us useless country yolks, it is good enough for any and all green spaces in the Capital.