Dr Paul Deane: Ireland has 90 days of oil, but no strategic gas reserves. What now?

The energy landscape of the world has changed and we need to evaluate our options for gas storage while working to reduce our dependance on fossil fuels

Ireland has over 2m vehicles, more than one and a half million houses and a quarter of a million businesses that use fossil fuels for heating, manufacturing, and the movement of goods and people. Picture: David Creedon

The world has changed remarkably in the past five weeks. Russia has lost both credibility and standing as a nation, but also as one of Europe’s most important energy suppliers, and now Europe must understand how to meet future energy needs without vast volumes of Russian oil and gas.

Ireland relies on fossil fuels for over 80% of our energy, and while we don’t import significant amounts from Russia, we are not immune to this challenge as we purchase energy commodities on the global marketplace, a marketplace that just got smaller.