Reduce Fossil Fuels used at Home - Spend to Save

Ireland emits about the fifth highest per capita (head) Green House Gas emissions in the world at 17 tons per capita. By comparison the EU-27 average is 10.4 tons per capita, and Indian emissions are estimated at 2 tons per capita. A global sustainable target is estimated at 3 to 4 tonnes each though-out the world. What is your global footprint? Take a simple test to find out (Opens a new website) your rough footprint and ways to balance your life with the planet. Reducing the energy needed to heat our homes (Space Heating), travel and food are the easiest ways to reduce our use of fossil fuel consumption, and so reduce our Carbon Footprint. Get a BER survey on your existing home to decide which changes to prioritise. Many of these actions are expensive and need careful planning and saving. When you come to re-decorate or re-design your home, carry out some of this work at the same time.

1. Fit External Wall Insulation (EWI), Dry-line External Walls or Insulate Cavity Walls - Drops 1-3 tonnes per annum.
Action: Sustainable Energy Ireland, Cost: For example, a 4-bed,semi-detached house in Dundrum was fitted with EWI in September 2009 - Cost €16,000- Grant: €4,000-; with a new gas boiler & heating controls - Cost €3,500- Grant €700-.

2. Insulate an un insulated loft as thickly as you can - Drops 1.5 tonnes or more - Add as much as you can afford up to 1 metre/1,000 mm/ 3 feet.
Action: Sustainable Energy Ireland . Cost €800 - €1,200: Grant: €250.

3. Switch to renewable electricity - Drops 1.5 to 3 tonnes. Burning peat and coal to generate electricity is burning the most polluting of fossil fuels.
Action: Switch to Airtricity or Bord Gas

4. Replace electric heating with gas central heating when possible - Drops between 3 and 10 tonnes. Conventional electricity generated from coal, peat or oil is extremely inefficient with up to 2/3rds of the power lost in cooling towers, transformers and power lines. Gas is burnt in the home on demand!
Action: Bord Gais or Flo-Gas

5. Heat with wood - drops from 1 to 5 tonnes, To burn wood efficiently requires a good-quality burner to be fitted into an existing grate, or a wood-fired boiler that will heat the house.
Action: Sustainable Energy Ireland, Grant: €800 to €2,500 (2009)

6. If your house is suitable, consider fitting solar panels and a larger capacity, insulated storage cylinder in your utility room or hot press. Fitting a Heat Pump, either Air-to-Air, to-Ground, to-Water, is another option to minimise utility heating bills.
Action: Sustainable Energy Ireland

7. Fill a spare room with a lodger or housemate - drop up to 4 tonnes. You are now sharing your up-graded home with another person. You are earning a tax-free income.
Details: Revenue Commissioners - Rent a Room Relief

8. Fit thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on all radiators - drops ½ tonne or more. To save money combine it with another job.
Action: Contact your local plumber.

9. Install top-quality heating controls - drops ¾ of a tonne if used properly
Action: Sustainable Energy Ireland

10. Replace every incandescent or halogen bulb to a CFL low energy or LED bulb - drop 20 Kg's per bulb. ¼ tonne per average household, fit lagging jackets to hot water cylinders, lag hot pipes. Replace entertainment and domestic appliances with new A or A+ energy-rated models, e.g. freezer, dishwasher, fridge, washing machine, TV. Whenever replacing equipment or appliances always select a low-energy item. Switch off lights and equipment when rooms vacated or not in use.
Action: http://www.sei.ie/Power_of_One/Energy_Saving/

11. If you are buying a new or pre-owned home, select the house/apartment with the best BER rating A, B or C, or negotiate a lower price if the BER is lower. If you are able to build a new home select a 'zero carbon', 'passive' house with built-in insulation, solar water-heating, etc. For further details and choice http://constructireland.ie/

12. Join local communities such as Churches, Resident Associations, Food Coops, and Clubs where you can contribute and exchange ideas and talents, share equipment in the community, share transport, support local initiatives, make life in your community better.

Avoid Using Fossil Fuels by Habit Changes

Many of the ways we use energy are habitual. Examine your habits, change, and make your change your new way of doing things.

You may be able to avoid burning fossil fuel on your daily land travel (dropping several tonnes of CO²) or you may not. Drop a tonne by moving 4,800 kilometres/3,000 miles (60 miles a week) of travel in your own car to public transport or even on a self-propelled bicycle. or save the same tonne by working at home one day a week. If you drive more than 12,800 kilometres/8,000 miles drop a tonne by switching from petrol to a diesel-engine model. Living close to your work, the 20-minute walk might mean parking the car permanently, or doing without, and use taxis, sharing, and hiring on those occasions a private car is needed.

Air Travel is by far the single most destructive thing you can do. Your first step towards light living must be to fly less. If you fly less, you reduce demand, so less flights overall. Is the flight necessary, instead of a phone call/Skype? Holiday at home more often? Can you take an overnight ferry & rail/coach to reach your destination? Each short haul return flight adds ½ tonne to your footprint. Long haul flights with full occupancy add at least a ¼ tonne for each hour airborne; heavier planes, more fuel, more luggage.

Becoming a vegetarian reduces your carbon footprint by a tonne, Maybe too extreme for some, so: Eat less meat; always eat grass-fed Irish'; maybe have a meatless day a week or adopt a low-meat diet permanently. Drop another tonne by avoiding artificial fertilizers and only eating locally grown seasonal organics. Enforce 'zero-waste home cooking' by composting vegetable waste, eating every-thing on the plate, eating all food before the 'use-by' date or before it goes stale/bad.

Switch to carbon-light spending on products made to last, maybe locally made products with a higher labour input and craftsmanship. Use, repair, recycle, borrow, loan!

By making small changes to the way you do things you will be able to reduce your carbon footprint, change your spending patterns, but life should not change very much. Some things may be trade-offs, like reduced domestic fossil-fuelled offset by increased air travel emissions out of Europe every couple of years. Many of the ideas and figures were taken from the book 'Carbon Detox' by George Marshall , www.carbondetox.org. EU statistics are available from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pdf/policy/ireland.pdf, Home Advice for Energy Savings Power of One