DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- On the heels of the climate agreement reached in Paris, the Irish government published guidelines outlining how it could eliminate its carbon footprint.
The government published a White Paper detailing how to phase out high-carbon fuels like peat and coal and move in favor of renewable resources. By 2050, the guidelines call for renewable resources to overtake fossil fuels by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions tied to the energy sector will fall to zero by the end of the century.
"For the first time, an Irish government has set its course on the eventual elimination of fossil fuels from our energy system," Scottish Energy Minister Alex White said in a statement.
A 90-point scheme ranges from tax incentives to support electric and other cleaner commercial vehicles to energy-efficiency schemes for utility companies.
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Greenhouse gas emissions from Irish electricity generation, transport and commercial use account for 66 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, renewables accounted for 23 percent of all electricity generation, which puts Ireland halfway to its 2020 goal of 40 percent.
Kate Ruddock, a campaign director for Friends of the Earth Ireland, praised the measure as one of the first to emerge in the wake of last week's climate agreement in Paris. Many of the ambitions, however, lack clear vision.
"We are concerned that the vision in this document is not yet matched by the innovation needed to deliver it, and it still lacks details on how and when crucial elements of the energy transition will be achieved," she said in a statement.
In early 2015, the government said it would back an emerging marine energy program with up to $29 million in research and development support through 2016. With a maritime acreage 10 times the size of its land mass, White said the Irish islands offer some of the best offshore renewable energy prospects in the world.
Onshore, Ireland since 2003 has installed approximately 150 wind farms with a total electricity capacity of 1,738 megawatts. The government has said there might be enough wind energy on the electrical grid to meet 40 percent of the country's annual energy needs by 2020.
