Report: Consumer habits hurt nation’s energy savings

IRELAND’S energy savings could have been doubled over the past decade but for consumer spending on gas-guzzling cars and high-maintenance homes, according to a major new study.

A report by Sustainable Energy Ireland has revealed that any notable energy savings recorded in the period 1995-2005 were largely as a result of technical factors rather than changes in personal habits.

The study, Energy Efficiency in Ireland, shows that Ireland overall achieved an improvement in energy efficiency of 8.1% over the period. Although major energy savings were recorded by industry, there was effectively no improvement in the area of transport, which accounts for 41% of all energy consumption. Savings of 0.8% were achieved by the transport sector.