Top speakers for Tipperary talk on Ireland's energy future

Clonmel Library willhost a talk about Ireland’s energy future in  on Wednesday, March 18 at 6pm. 

With the environment and climate change high on the agenda, renewable energy and zero carbon emissions have become hot topics. 

‘Ireland’s Energy Future?’ will look at the decarbonisation of Ireland’s electricity system and the economics of a cleaner energy future, while posing important questions about the feasibility of reaching zero emissions with renewable energy and whether new nuclear technology could play a part in reaching clean air targets.

Colm McCarthy, economist at DCU and columnist for The Farmers Journal and The Sunday Independent, will talk about the economics of renewables, gas and nuclear power in a post coal and peat era.

  McCarthy asks hard questions about the cost of renewable energy and infrastructure in Ireland, how we can replace coal and peat powered generation, and how carbon emissions targets can be met more economically. 

A graduate in Economics of University College Dublin and of the University of Essex,  McCarthy has worked at the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Central Bank of Ireland, with the economic consulting firm DKM and at the Economics Department of University College Dublin. 

He has published over 40 technical articles on issues in applied economics in Irish and international journals, including the Economic Journal, the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, and the European Economic Review, and is also a regular columnist for the Farmers Journal and The Sunday Independent. 

 McCarthy was a member of the Independent Expert Panel tasked by the DCENR with overseeing the preparation of reports submitted by EirGrid for the Grid Link and Grid West projects. 

This will be followed by a talk by Denis Duff, chartered engineer and co-founder of Better Environment with Nuclear Energy, who will take a fresh look at the pros and cons of nuclear power, how small modular reactors could work for Ireland leading to a sustainable, low or zero carbon emissions energy future. 

He will also cover nuclear safety, waste, and cost.

 Duff is a Chartered Engineer with over 30 years of experience in a variety of roles in electricity generating systems, including wind, hydro, solid fuel, oil and gas-fuelled stations, both at home and abroad. 

He is a co-founder of Better Environment with Nuclear Energy, (www.bene.ie), an Irish group seeking to have nuclear energy in Ireland considered on its merits.

The talks will be followed by a question and answer question chaired by Timothy Mooney, Professor of Philosophy, UCD.

Space is limited, please contact suirvalleyconference

@gmail.com to reserve a place.