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Environment

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This chapter looks at data from three new CSO releases, “Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption 2015", "Environmental Subsidies and Similar Transfers 2015" and "Networked Gas Consumption 2016". The chapter also includes data from our existing quarterly "Domestic Building Energy Ratings” and "Non-Domestic Building Energy Ratings" releases.
The chapter also contains statistics on aspects of Ireland’s Environmental Economy. The data on Material Flow Accounts and Environment Taxes are compiled by the CSO in accordance with Eurostat requirements set out in Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011.

5.1 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption 2015
 
Threshold levelNumber of metersTotal water consumption (Cubic metres)Average water consumption (Litres per meter per day)Median water consumption (Litres per meter per day)Average/ Median (Ratio)
Total (all meters)771,34892,926,7023832521.52
      
< 1,000 litres per meter per day744,89064,141,3132742451.12
< 5,000 litres per meter per day766,66576,758,6243182511.27
< 10,000 litres per meter per day769,17682,120,3813392511.35
Source: CSO

The average consumption per meter per day in 2015 varied from 274 litres to 383 litres depending on whether domestic water meters recording large consumption are included or excluded.

20142015
1st3036
2nd99101
3rd148150
4th190192
5th230232
6th270273
7th317320
8th378381
9th477479
10th16341663
Total381383
5.2 Domestic Building Energy Ratings by County 2009-20171
          
% of row 
CountyEnergy Rating Average age
ABCDEFGTotal
Carlow110402611579,74229
Dublin 01-2431332251467153,90236
Dublin County8143624104449,46227
Kildare511412593527,65924
Kilkenny1103826125911,64934
Laois1114021126911,03329
Longford010352713796,04427
Louth2144322104618,80332
Meath412452294521,93625
Offaly163322189119,52433
Westmeath01137251161013,20230
Wexford183828135823,17928
Wicklow4103724126819,96932
Clare183727145819,51031
Cork City1143524146717,68144
Cork County216412194763,06832
Kerry1113726125823,39928
Limerick City153930126711,37536
Limerick County184027125721,41431
Tipperary0734271471123,62039
Waterford City28393112467,43735
Waterford County293828115711,44634
Galway City183731146510,40924
Galway County194024135830,16927
Leitrim083922127115,38430
Mayo1836271261019,10631
Roscommon064122126128,39031
Sligo1103426156911,83930
Cavan1124221115910,58827
Donegal194224115821,04928
Monaghan111362712586,94234
      
National21137251257698,93032
Source: CSO

Dublin County had the highest percentage of "A" rated properties in the country (8%), followed by Kildare (5%), Meath and Wicklow  both (4%), while Roscommon had the highest percentage of "G" rated dwellings (12%) of those audited in the county.

ABCDEFG
Carlow11040261157
Dublin 01-2431332251467
Dublin County81436241044
Kildare5114125935
Kilkenny11038261259
Laois11140211269
Longford01035271379
Louth21443221046
Meath4124522945
Offaly16332218911
Westmeath011372511610
Wexford1838281358
Wicklow41037241268
Clare1837271458
Cork City11435241467
Cork County2164121947
Kerry11137261258
Limerick City1539301267
Limerick County1840271257
Tipperary07342714711
Waterford City2839311246
Waterford County2938281157
Galway City1837311465
Galway County1940241358
Leitrim08392212711
Mayo18362712610
Roscommon06412212612
Sligo11034261569
Cavan11242211159
Donegal1942241158
Monaghan11136271258
National21137251257
5.3 Building Energy Ratings by County (Non-Domestic) 2009-2017
         
% of row 
CountyEnergy Rating Total
ABCDEFG
Carlow020391610313572
Dublin 01-2411335231261112,525
Dublin County1143721106103,252
Kildare3173518105121,867
Kilkenny118321910418706
Laois218321813414528
Longford116322013810340
Louth1123122128141,227
Meath117361995121,524
Offaly12134208510508
Westmeath016382111591,021
Wexford1123420138141,239
Wicklow1183220116111,349
Clare0113225129111,311
Cork City010332511614417
Cork County1143721106104,058
Kerry015362097121,188
Limerick City08322512913406
Limerick County1133522127121,690
Tipperary1153719117111,198
Waterford City01241181398544
Waterford County118331910515688
Galway City110362213511487
Galway County1143321108122,235
Leitrim1834311279199
Mayo1143420117131,182
Roscommon012292113915448
Sligo110342110718695
Cavan112332014713576
Donegal1173121135121,151
Monaghan116291812717409
         
Total11435211161245,540
Source: CSO

Four counties had a combined "A" and "B" rating of 20% or higher: Offaly (22%); Carlow, Kildare and Laois (20%).  In contrast Leitrim and Limerick City at 8% each had the lowest proportion of combined "A" and "B" ratings.

ABCDEFG
Carlow020391610313
Dublin 01-24113352312611
Dublin County114372110610
Kildare317351810512
Kilkenny118321910418
Laois218321813414
Longford116322013810
Louth112312212814
Meath11736199512
Offaly12134208510
Westmeath01638211159
Wexford112342013814
Wicklow118322011611
Clare011322512911
Cork City010332511614
Cork County114372110610
Kerry01536209712
Limerick City08322512913
Limerick County113352212712
Tipperary115371911711
Waterford City01241181398
Waterford County118331910515
Galway City110362213511
Galway County114332110812
Leitrim1834311279
Mayo114342011713
Roscommon012292113915
Sligo110342110718
Cavan112332014713
Donegal117312113512
Monaghan116291812717
National114352111612
5.4 Environmental Transfers by Environmental Protection/Resource Management Domain, 2011 - 2015
      
€m
Domain20112012201320142015
Total transfers1799.3622.3536.6619.9642.4
of which     
   Wastewater management286.4176.2146.9172.1184.0
   Protection of biodiversity and landscape285.6264.5217.5212.4133.1
   Production of energy from renewable resources40.853.455.589.7170.9
   Heat/Energy saving and management113.568.156.990.290.0
   Other72.960.059.755.564.3
1Due to rounding, totals may not correspond with the sum of the categories.
Source: CSO

In 2015, €642 million was paid in environmental subsidies and similar transfers to Irish corporations, households and public bodies, as well as to international environmental organisations under Irish government commitments. This was 4% higher than the amount paid in 2014 but 47% lower than the €1.2 billion provided in 2008.

Environmental protection activities were subsidised to a value of €375 million, or 58% of the total, while €268 million, or 42%, was used to support resource management activities.

 

 

 

Environmental Protection TransfersResource Management Transfers
2000545.3361.56
2001590.4322.26
2002581.5435.872
2003542.82317.033
2004516.91925.858
2005587.51328.494
2006686.57729.916
2007798.15163.731
20081132.32791.013
20091006.55122.022
20101022.436162.083
2011634.113165.176
2012492.476129.793
2013415.99120.573
2014432.14187.719
2015374.641267.722
5.5 Environment Taxes by Tax type, 2012-2016
      
€m
Tax20122013201420152016
Total 4,1594,4294,6414,9145,042
Annual % change-1.1%6.5%4.8%5.9%2.6%
% of total taxes8.7%8.8%8.5%8.2%8.1%
      
Energy taxes2,6212,7042,8013,0013,076
      
Transport taxes1,4721,6621,7831,8691,908
      
Pollution and Resource taxes6664574558
Source: CSO

Environment Taxes increased from €4.2 billion in 2012 to €5 billion in 2016.  As a percentage of total taxes, environment taxes decreased from 8.7% in 2012 to 8.1% in 2016.

Energy taxes increased from €2.6 billion in 2012 to €3.1 billion in 2016.  The share of energy tax as a percentage of total environment taxes was 63% in 2012.  In 2016 the share decreased to 61%.

Transport taxes (mainly vehicle registration and motor taxes) increased from €1.5 billion in 2012 to €1.9 billion in 2016.

Pollution and Resource taxes fell from €66 million in 2012 to €58 million in 2016.

EnergyTransportPollution and Resource
20021.6740119321.3876261860.0211798496
20031.7629125651.4940010.0430430386
20042.0842152111.708090.0402495678
20052.2122910341.960783090.04664046418
20062.2324909352.185860.05279454368
20072.2504680922.515760.05624202056
20082.2498078372.002520.061817314
20092.265381.522710.056864134
20102.508323171.522040.062111869
20112.6939455251.448820.061183048
20122.6205851711.4720870.066277771
20132.7042633391.6615590.063599
20142.8008089151.7833488490.05708538892
20153.0006542341.8686518050.04501093098
20163.075843991.9079422770.0579747525
5.6 Net Material Accumulation
      
million tonnes
Description20102011201220132014
      
Domestic Extraction84.01579.40571.53378.96376.771
     Biomass34.76834.93633.84834.99635.221
     Metallic Minerals4.2834.1764.2053.8173.656
     Non-Metallic Minerals39.26935.92331.37532.96132.778
     Fossil Fuels5.6954.3692.1057.1895.115
      
 + Trade Imports35.81134.94734.75136.62436.418
     Biomass8.3277.9798.8819.8319.754
     Metallic Minerals5.9575.8645.9096.0606.247
     Non-Metallic Minerals3.8113.7543.4283.7593.785
     Fossil Fuels16.03515.69914.99315.27414.691
     Other Products1.6811.6511.5401.7001.942
      
  - Trade Exports14.66015.74616.37615.67216.702
     Biomass5.6905.9945.9476.0996.318
     Metallic Minerals3.2543.9563.6663.6413.551
     Non-Metallic Minerals1.3811.3361.8351.9962.515
     Fossil Fuels3.1263.3093.7812.8663.209
     Other Products1.2101.1521.1471.0701.109
      
 = Domestic Material Consumption105.16598.60589.90899.91496.487
     Biomass37.40536.92136.78238.72838.656
    Metallic Minerals6.9866.0856.4486.2366.352
    Non-Metallic Minerals41.69938.34132.96834.72434.048
    Fossil Fuels18.60416.75913.31719.59716.597
    Other Products0.4710.4990.3940.6300.833
      
 - Domestic Processed Output55.00351.16251.27051.10050.898
     Emissions to Air43.91240.24140.51239.70539.435
     Emissions to Land0.2660.2740.2140.1320.050
     Emissions to Water0.0070.0080.0080.0060.010
     Dissipative Use of Products10.81910.64010.53611.25611.403
      
 + Balancing Input Gases68.41664.26564.85663.84063.255
 - Balancing Output Gases58.80057.74859.68460.08359.810
      
 = Net Material Accumulation59.854.043.852.649.0
Source: CSO
BiomassMetallic MineralsNon-Metallic MineralsFossil Fuels
201034.7684.28339.2695.695
201134.9364.17635.9234.369
201233.8484.20531.3752.105
201334.9963.81732.9617.189
201435.2213.65632.7785.115

The volume of total domestic extraction fell from 84 million tonnes in 2010 to 71.5 million tonnes in 2012 before rising to 76.8 million tonnes in 2014. This was mainly driven by changes in the domestic extraction of non-metallic minerals which fell from 39.3 million tonnes in 2010 to 31.4 million tonnes in 2012, before rising to 32.8 million tonnes in 2014.  The remaining components of domestic extraction in 2014 were biomass at 35.2 million tonnes, metallic minerals at 3.7 million tonnes and fossil fuels at 5.1 million tonnes. Trade imports of materials in 2014 amounted to 36.4 million tonnes compared with 16.7 million tonnes of exports. Fossil fuels (at 14.7 million tonnes) were the largest import category in 2014. Total emissions declined from 55 million tonnes in 2010 to 51.2 million tonnes in 2011 remaining stable at that level from 2011 to 2014. The trend in total emissions was driven largely by movement in its most important component – emissions to air

5.7 Networked Gas Consumption by Quarter for Residential Sector 2011-2016
           
Gigawatt hours% of row
YearJan-MarApr-JunJul-SepOct-DecTotal Q1Q2Q3Q4
20114,2111,6196591,5238,012 5320819
20123,2161,9735881,9367,713 4226825
20133,4932,3004521,5077,752 4530619
20143,3421,6214501,4536,867 4924721
20153,4151,7875591,5017,262 4725821
20163,0921,9884591,6367,175 4328623
Source: CSO

 There is strong seasonal variation in networked gas consumption by households. The January to March quarter had by far the highest consumption varying from 53% of total residential usage in 2011 to 43% in 2016. In contrast July to September accounted for only 6% of total residential consumption in 2016. 

Jan-MarApr-JunJul-SepOct-Dec
20115.7622.0290.6811.946
20124.3632.5560.5962.537
20134.6482.9260.4271.914
20144.4551.9620.4161.804
20154.5222.1510.5571.861
20163.9892.4160.4152.002

Go to next chapter: Information Society (Households & Individuals) 

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