Industry

Industry

Introduction

Industry will play a pivotal role in our ability to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets. It shapes the way materials are managed, from raw states to final consumption and disposal.

Beyond the emissions from its primary operating activities, it can also influence the wider economy as it shapes the way materials are managed, manages large transport flows, builds and uses a large share of our buildings and it influences a vast supply chain by the priorities it sets. Emissions from the industry sector reduced by approximately one third between 2005 and 2011. However, they rebounded by over 25% up to 2018, with a slight reduction seen in 2019. This demonstrates how correlated emissions in this sector are to economic growth. While the economic recovery did see some switch to renewable energy sources, the increase in emissions has shown that the link between emissions and economic growth has not been broken.

GHG emissions increased by 0.9% in Manufacturing Combustion in 2021 while the industrial processes sector was responsible for 4.0% and F-Gases 1.2% of Ireland's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2021.

There were decreases in combustion emissions from major sub sectors including chemical and the food processing, beverages and tobacco sector, i.e., 3.2% and 4.4% respectively. However, combustion emissions from non-metallic minerals (including cement) increased significantly by 10.5% and 0.12 Mt CO₂eq. 

Emissions from the industrial processes sector increased by 16.8% (0.35 Mt CO₂eq.) in 2021 when compared to 2020. Total process emissions from the mineral products subsector (including cement) increased by 18.1% in 2021 compared to 2020 emissions.

Industry targets set in the 2023 Climate Action Plan

Under Climate Action Plan 2023, the following measures were set out to meet the level of emissions required by 2025:

• Expand and enhance supports from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland (EI) with a focus on achieving energy efficiency, electrification and biomass adoption in industry aligned with the above KPIs;
• Develop and deliver policies to ensure increased supply of zero-emission gases aligned with the above KPIs;
• Actively deliver a series of measures to reduce embodied carbon in construction materials; promote the swapping to lower embodied carbon construction materials wherever possible; and reduce emissions from cement production aligned with the above KPIs;
• Promote alternative construction materials through robust carbon lifecycle assessment of construction projects. Switching from high global warming potential (GWP) materials to low GWP materials, as well as reducing the GWP of individual materials;
• Reduce Ireland’s annual industry emissions from 7 MtCO₂eq. in 2021 to 5.7 MtCO₂eq. annually by the end of the period 2023 to 2025;
• Reduce Ireland’s annual industry emissions to meet carbon budget for 2025 to 2030. To meet the level of emissions required by 2030 we will:
• Expand and enhance supports from the SEAI, IDA Ireland and EI with a focus on achieving energy efficiency, electrification and biomass adoption in industry aligned with the above KPIs;
• Develop and deliver policies to ensure increased supply of zero-emission gases aligned with the above KPIs;
• Actively deliver a series of measures to reduce embodied carbon in construction materials, and emissions from cement production.

2024 Climate Action Plan

Climate Action Plan 2024 represents a sustained high-level of ambition, as Ireland continues to strive for carbon neutrality by 2050. Ireland must now focus on the implementation of direct emission reduction actions outlined in CAP23. DECC has carried out some research on how the new target could be met and listed below are some questions that have arisen out of that research. The following consultation questions relate to areas that the DECC is considering as it identifies actions that will form part of the forthcoming Climate Action Plan.