UN Summit told of ESB carbon target

ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, reiterated the company's commitment to achieving its carbon net-zero target by 2035 at the recent United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York.

He was attending the summit at the invitation of the UN last month. The summit was attended by heads of state and industry from around the world as a precursor to the December Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

Speaking at a meeting of chief executives from a broad section of industry, he said ESB has embarked on a capital investment programme of €22 billion geared to realise ambitious climate-energy targets.

The Chief Executive said that, under its new Strategic Framework, ESB is on track to cut its carbon emissions by 30% by 2010; by 50% by 2020 and be net-zero by 2035. A total of €4 billion will be invested in renewable energy projects including wind, biomass and new technologies.

The plan also involves a €10.5 billion investment in its electricity networks infrastructure to facilitate greater renewable energy on the system and to pave the way for the development of smart networks and the expansion of smart metering to every home in the country.

The decarbonisation of electricity allows for a national electric transport fleet and ESB will build the recharging network required to underpin that development, he said.

Achieving radical energy conservation and efficiencies through building insulation programmes and education initiatives is also at the heart of ESB's climate-energy investment programme.