NORTH WEST IS A FORGOTTEN REGION, HEARS EU ENERGY CONFERENCE IN BRUSSELS
“THE north west region of the country is the region that infrastructure forgot.”
That’s according to Head of Research at IT Sligo John Bartlett who was speaking at an energy conference in Brussels last week. He was an invited guest of Sligo County Councillor Gerry Lundy who is also a member of the EU Committee of Regions. Both men addressed the Innovative Energy Solutions for European Regions conference.
Dr Bartlett began by saying that the region is characterised by a very low and dispersed population base and by very poor infrastructural services in terms of energy, roads and ports. He argued that the northern and western region is its own “region within a region.” Dr Bartlett illustrated Ireland’s reliance on the import of energy and both the country and the region’s need to become reliant instead on renewable forms of energy.
“In 2015” he said: “we used up 14 million tonnes of oil equivalent of energy.” 49% of that was oil, 27% gas, 10% coal, 5% peat and 9% was classified as “other forms of energy”.
“100% of our oil is is imported, 97% of our natural gas is imported. While all of our coal is also imported. All of our peat based energy is indigenous while 7% of our renewable energy is indigenous. Of the total use of primary energy here, 35% is used in transport, 33% in heating and 32% in electricity.
“The overall picture in terms of energy is one of absolute dependency. What we would like to get to in the future is absolute independence particularly in our own region in the north west.”
On the infrastructure front he argued:“If you look at the north west quadrant, you’ll see that the electrical infrastructure just about reaches into the region. But the motorways don’t. Gas infrastructure has very little reach also. The rail infrastructure just about gets to us through Sligo. The north west region of the country is the region that infrastructure forgot!”
Despite these environmental set backs he says: “We respond by collaborating and innovating. We collaborate to innovate. We have been doing that to a significant degree for the last number of years.”
He said: “The IT Sligo based Contract Research Unit works with SMEs on a wide range of technologies and business supports including energy efficiency, water conservation, solar thermal systems, wind energy and biomass heating.”
Dr Bartlett also brought up the issue of Britain’s pending departure from the EU and the uncertainty it brings with it, principally with the issue of EU funding energy schemes.
He calls this apprehension ‘ Brexiety’. “This is a new element”, he explains. “We’ve always had a border. It has had many different faces and in the last twenty years its had a smiling, benign one.
“Now we are faced with Brexit it is a very different face. There’s a new malady in our region and it’s called ‘ Brexiety’. It is based on two very real things. One is the prospect of a return of a hard border. No matter what language is being used at political level we in the north west know what the reality of a border means.
“It isn’t just about customs and excise, it’s about communities, it’s about people and it’s about separating and dividing those communities.
“Secondly there is also a real fear also that the momentum that has been built up with cross- border research and innovation in the last ten years will be lost.”