Concerns/Observations
Introduction states that Clondalkin has been identified as a ‘Decarbonisation Zone’, creating opportunities for the LPF to support measures which will aid in reducing carbon emissions by 51%.
Considering the majority of emissions in areas like Clondalkin are primarily driven by transport and residential/commercial sectors, how will the reduction be viable?
For transport, there needs to be a significant decrease in private vehicle use. Considering there has been a significant increase in population in Clondalkin and surrounding areas, and with no major increase in public transport frequencies or services, it would appear that the only other alternative, is for reliance on the public to make the switch to EVs, which is expensive and does not reduce the volume of vehicles on the road.
The CA6 Objective 2 states that it aims to deploy public EV charging hubs within Clondalkin LPF at key transport nodes. While this approach will help with individuals who are unable to charge their EV at home, and will be more convenient for others, this would indicate (again) that the plan is reliant on the public switching over to EVs. There is no point in developing charging hubs if the demand is not there for them.
Furthermore, considering residential emissions, majority of housing of stock would indicate that there is a high volume of retrofitting works required to reduce the emission levels based on heat alone.
The electrification of heat, insulation works and other methods are expensive to implement regardless of the current SEAI grants (which I believe are due to decrease each consecutive year).
Considering the current cost of living for majority of people, this would appear to be a viable option for a limited number of people.
Factoring in the above, it would appear that there is no real holistic plan to reach this reduction in emissions by 51% in the next 5 years.
Section 3.4 Electricity Infrastructure refers to the undergrounding of HV overhead lines to cables. Consideration must be also given to the fact that depending on the size and purpose of the cables, they may not be capable of carrying the same capacity as the overhead lines, and therefore may limit the capacity of the circuits.