Eco & Renewables

Perhaps our oldest resource, yet newest industry.

The Western region is at the forefront of renewable energy initiatives and helping to reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions.

Ireland’s Western region benefits from a landscape and climactic conditions particularly suitable to harnessing the power of nature to provide for energy needs.

• Renewable energy is a key area of potential for economic growth.
• Renewable energy can provide an indigenous, sustainable and renewable energy resource.
• WDC research shows that Wood Energy alone could deliver 11% of the region’s heat needs by 2020.
• The green energy has significant employment potential in the Western Region. Within the wood energy sector alone (a segment of the green energy) there is the potential to create over 900 jobs by 2020. 

The main areas of focus for the Eco & Renewables sector in the region are:

• Wood Energy
• Bio energy
• Wind Energy
• Ocean Energy

The Western Development Commission has secured EU funding to develop the wood energy sector in the Western Region.  RASLRES is a €3 million multi-national European bio-energy project led by the Western Development Commission (WDC), Ireland with partners in Sweden, Scotland, Northern Ireland.  It is funded by the INTERREG IVB - Northern Periphery Programme.

The project will support farmers, rural enterprises and rural communities to expand the wood heat sector. Community support is vital to allow the renewable energy sector to achieve its full potential as an energy resource and in the process reach government policy targets. Renewable energy projects can bring significant benefits to the rural economy and the community where primary resources are located. They can create economically and environmentally sustainable enterprises and provide employment opportunities in rural areas experiencing agricultural decline.

For further information visit http://www.raslres.eu/