A new SEAI report on energy consumption and related emissions shows that Ireland increased its use of fossil fuels last year as increased demand for energy, driven by data centres, continues to outstrip increases in renewable energy production.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “In 2024, 81 per cent of energy use was generated by fossil fuels. Incredibly, six years after the declaration of a climate emergency, this represents an increase in the percentage of our energy generated by fossil fuels compared to 2023”.
“Underlying this is a 2.3 per cent in overall energy demand last year, in large part due to increased energy demand from data centres. So we have the lethal combination of increasing demand for electricity coupled with a growing proportion of energy generated by fossil fuels”.
“It should also be noted that imports of electricity from Britain and the North increased sharply to 14 per cent of total energy consumed in 2024, up from 9.5% in 2023 according to the SEAI. According to the Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Report 2025, “Imported electricity is not included in the Electricity sector emissions in the Irish greenhouse gas emissions inventory”. The SEAI previously stated “Approximately three-quarters of the reduced electricity emissions observed in 2023 can be attributed to the increased use of net-imported electricity”. This raises questions about whether the big increase in electricity imports again in 2024 effectively ‘hides’ a significant portion of Ireland’s energy emissions growth”.
“Data from the SEAI also showed that building heating-related emissions increased in 2024, highlighting the pitifully slow progress being made on retrofitting of the building stock. The Government needs to massively accelerate the retrofitting programme. This programme should immediately exempt external wall insulation from planning permission in line with the Planning And Development (Exempted Development - External Wall Insulation) Bill 2025 I am introducing in the Dail today, and also incorporate my Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025 that requires landlords to retrofit properties to BER B2 standard by 2030”.
“Last year the SEAI said that Ireland is unlikely to achieve its targets for emissions reductions even under the most optimistic scenarios. This latest data from the SEAI makes it abundantly clear that Ireland will not even get close to halving emissions by 2030 as long as the government permits growth of data centres and their rapidly accelerating demand for electricity. This is an accelerating spiral towards climate catastrophe that must be ended”.