Consumer preference for more fuel-efficient cars has reduced energy use in the transport sector by 25 per cent since 2007, according to data released yesterday by the Sustainable Energy Authority for Ireland (SEAI).
But Ireland’s transport energy consumption per person is still the fifth-highest in Europe, at 30 per cent above the EU average, and fossil fuels for transport account for more than half of the State’s €6 billion energy import bill – mainly due to excessive car dependency.
Changes in car taxation to penalise carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and promote fuel efficiency have prompted what the SEAI called a “seismic shift” in consumer behaviour, with 95 per cent of new cars in the high efficiency A and B bands, compared to 18 per cent in 2007.
The other significant factor in reducing the amount of energy needed for transport is the economic downturn, which has particularly affected construction-related road freight.
The report shows that energy use by road freight almost halved between 2007 and 2013 mainly due to reduced activity as a result of the downturn.
Carriage of goods for road works and building sites accounted for the largest share of this reduction.
Private cars accounted for the biggest share of transport energy use last year, amounting to 43 per cent of the total, followed by road freight (21 per cent) and aviation (14 per cent).
Overall, emissions from the transport sector fell 25 per cent between 2007 and 2013.
The number of new cars licensed was 61 per cent lower over the period while their average emissions fell to 121 grams of CO2 per kilometre compared with an average of 164 grams in 2007.
Of all new cars, 73 per cent were diesel, compared to 28 per cent in 2007.
Kevin O’Rourke, the SEAI’s head of low-carbon technologies, said Ireland needed to “wean itself off its reliance on imported fossil fuels, which come at prices outside our control, with risks of disruption to supply and, of course, with associated harmful emissions”.
“Fuel saving and eco-driving programmes are working for companies like Matthews Coaches and Bus Éireann.”
The SEAI report also noted that while there was a total of only 420 electric vehicles (EVs) in the State at the end of last year, there has been a significant increase in new EV registrations in 2014, with 215 registered to August, compared to 54 for the whole of last year.
