How we can turn the deluge to our advantage

THE incessant deluge in west Cork led me to do a rough calculation of the amount of potential energy delivered to Ireland by rainfall.

It came to 40 million megawatt hours (MWH) per year, or about a quarter more than Ireland’s total electricity consumption.

Obviously only a very small part of this would be usable, but at present just 0.4% of energy comes from hydro, so clearly there is scope for considerable growth.