Kevin O’Donovan: Green energy offers a way out of volatility

Renewable power production is now cheaper than fossil fuel production and would bring more price stability

Ireland has the potential to become a world leader of renewable energy exports, based on both our onshore and offshore renewable resources. Picture: Neil Michael

Understandably, the affordability of energy has dominated a lot of the headlines recently. It is something which has been debated at length.

There are several reasons for the high prices in the energy market. The primary cause is the high cost of gas and coal. Ireland has made big investments in solar and wind power, which has led to significantly lower CO2 emissions. However, we are still very much dependent on fossil fuels, and most of the time, it’s coal and, most particularly, gas that dictate power-market pricing.