Thank you everyone, I am delighted to be here at what, looking around me, is clearly a successful event. I’ve been told that the exhibition space this year is double what it was last year and that the 177 exhibitors are expecting 3,000 visitors over the two days. Already this morning, 1,500 half that, visited by lunchtime. So that is a very positive sign as I see it of a continuing and increasing interest among Irish business sectors of reducing our fossil fuel use which we have to do as a key strategic objective in this country. The theme for this years show, ‘Meeting Irelands Energy Challenge’, couldn’t be better described. The two key energy challenges are to reduce our emissions, reduce our use of fossil fuels to reduce our emissions, and also to reduce our energy insecurity from our dependence on fossil fuels.
The Taoiseach spoke at an interesting forum we had a month ago when we had some 400 companies involved in the energy area, under a wide definition. It included construction companies, it includes the financial community, they are also involved in this as well the sort of companies that are here today, those directly involved in providing the technological solutions. The Taoiseach said, and it was interesting, that he was involved in a council a couple of days later, that the European Commission climate change proposals by and large would be expected to go through by the end of this year and would then be put into action. I don’t think that anyone yet has a comprehension of how radical and what extent of change those climate change targets are going to require of us to meet them. In terms of emissions, it sounds relatively easy, it sounds like we would be able to do it, but if you look at the context of what is happening in our economy an increase in transport emissions, very extensive emissions from agriculture which are difficult to reduce, it is going to require very significant changes for us to be able to deliver, to meet those targets and keep a growing economy. A lot of that effort is going to have to be in the energy sector, and in companies and industries who are using fossil fuels which are adding to those emissions. The other challenge, the energy security one, there is a clear and obvious reality that we are actually close to a point where global oil production can no longer increase to meet our ever increasing demand. What we have to prepare for imminently is the day when not only can that production not increase to meet the increasing demand, but actually the easily available oil which our economy has been based on over the last number of years starts to contract in availability and the huge consequences of that, particularly for a country like our own, where 90% of our energy comes from imported fossil fuels, 60% of our energy from imported oil. We need to radically reduce that dependency on oil and imported gas for the long term security of energy supply in this country.
My job, I suppose, is to try to help that system along with Sustainable Energy Ireland, through whatever appropriate policy measures we can introduce. We have already been able to introduce a number of different measures – I am not going to list them here today – but the widening out of the REFIT scheme to develop new technological areas in the offshore wind and new biomass technologies. Important plans were made with Brian Cowen, the Tánaiste, Minister for Finance in getting, with section 46 of the Finance Act this year, a capital write off in the first full year for certain new energy efficient technologies, and this is something I hope we can continue to develop and to evolve. To make it easier for industry to do the right thing. Today I wanted to one cite other further development that SEI are going to be managing and introducing and it is the introduction of a support measure in the area of microgeneration technologies, to test trial the supply system, the grid connection system, the technology on a supply and support basis so that we can actually mainstream that then as a technology, as a power supply in our distributed energy system. We began last November, although it wasn’t publicly cited or made aware, a change in the regulations from the CER, the energy regulator, to allow people to sell excess electricity from their microgeneration systems back to the grid. We now want to test out the technologies, there are a variety of different technologies, be it PV, wind, hydro, whatever different ones come through on this test trial basis. We want to make sure that we have the correct systems in place, that we have support structures in place. SEI will have a support programme, the details of which will be announced in the coming months, to do exactly that. To allow us to then make the next step afterwards having tested some of the technologies in real life conditions, to then make it a mainstream technology which will be ‘stitched in’ particularly to new buildings or when we are retrofitting buildings. Its one element in the response to be made but I think that it is an important one. I think to one extent it is an important one because it goes with that other key development which is putting a smart meter into every home and every business so we can start becoming energy clever, so we start becoming aware of what we are doing and not wasteful in what we are doing in energy.
I want to particularly commend the recent decision by the ESB in that regard in terms of their corporate strategy change to aid their business in being a zero emissions business. And I cite it because it should help other businesses do the same in that their network with investment of €22billion is creating smart networks that will make it easier for other companies to deliver the technologies and to make the savings that they need to make. It is a facilitating role that they have to play as well as a developmental role.
So I wish the SEI well, and I want to commend David (Taylor) in particular, for his and his staffs work in setting up this show. I wish you, the business people, who are going to have to deliver the solutions to the challenges we face, the very best of luck. I am a business man myself, I firmly believe it is empowering creative enterprise to find solutions to problems we need. It is not some centralised creature like me who is going to sit in an office deciding or knowing what is going to work. It is people like you, on the ground, delivering solutions who are helping the Irish people in meeting the energy challenge that we face. I have every confidence in you, I wish you the best of luck.
Thank you.