In 2021, a suite of new nationwide solid fuel regulations were formally proposed to address the impacts associated with residential emissions of air pollutants. In response, EnvEcon developed a methodology to deliver a policy impact assessment on the proposed regulations. The objective of this was to estimate the associated emissions, health, and environmental impacts of the proposed changes, subject to specific defined assumptions. The analysis considered: the requirement for coal, coal-based products, any manufactured solid fuel, or peat briquettes to have a smoke rate below 10 g/hr; the requirement for wood to have a moisture content below 25% by September 2022; and the phasing out of peat briquettes by Bord na Mona by 2024. A time-series analysis was presented for 2023–2025 to capture the impacts of defined transitions.

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill of 2021 establishes the legal framework for Ireland’s shift towards a climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable, and climate-neutral economy by no later than 2050. The legislation includes provisions for a 2030 interim target, five-yearly carbon budgets, sectoral emissions ceilings, an annually updated Climate Action Plan, and a Long-Term Climate Action Strategy.

EnvEcon Decision Support conducted a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on the 2021 Bill. The SEA process is mandated by SEA Directive 2001/42/EC when a plan or program is expected to have significant effects on the environment. In cases where legislation, such as the 2021 Bill, is primarily aimed at achieving positive environmental outcomes, the interpretation applied suggests that the SEA process is not meant to offer a policy critique of those objectives. Instead, its purpose is to evaluate and recommend mitigation strategies for potential environmental impacts arising from the plan in question.

EnvEcon Decision Support provided a screening for Appropriate Assessment (AA) on Ireland’s Long Term Climate Action Strategy (LTS). The LTS sets out Ireland’s climate targets and indicative sectoral pathways for climate action on the short-term horizon to 2030, aligning with the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and Climate Action Plans (CAPs), and then charting pathways for the long-term horizon to 2050. There is recognition that the shorter-term pathways are, of course, relevant to the longer-term outcomes. Ireland’s LTS is focused on delivering positive environmental outcomes in line with the national climate goals.

AA is defined under Article 6 of Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. Article 6 of this Directive is primarily concerned with the protection and management of Natura 2000 sites. Natura 2000 sites are special conservation areas across Europe that have been defined as being particularly important in the context of protecting and supporting Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats for current and future generations.

An AA may be required in the context of Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, where a given plan or project “not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, shall be subject to an appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s conservation objectives.” The screening process for the AA is first to determine if a given plan or project can be excluded from further AA stages on the grounds that it is either directly connected with or otherwise necessary for the management of the site.

EnvEcon Decision Support provided a screening for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on Ireland’s Long-Term Climate Action Strategy (LTS). The LTS sets out Ireland’s climate targets and indicative sectoral pathways for climate action on the short-term horizon to 2030, aligning with the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and Climate Action Plans (CAPs) and then charting pathways for the long-term horizon to 2050. There is recognition that the shorter-term pathways are, of course, relevant to the longer-term outcomes.

The overarching objective of the SEA process defined within Article 1 of the SEA Directive 2001/42/EC is “to provide for a high level of protection of the environment and to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations in the preparation and adaptation of plans and programs with a view to promoting sustainable development.” Ireland’s LTS is focused on delivering positive environmental outcomes in line with the national climate goals.

An SEA screening is undertaken to determine whether a plan or programme falls within the scope of SEA Directive 2001/42/EC. If the screening process determines that the plan or programme, in this case the LTS, is within the scope of the Directive, then an environmental assessment in accordance with the Directive will be carried out.

EnvEcon Decision Support developed the National Air Pollution Control Plan (NAPCP) for Ireland in 2019 and 2023 and also provided an interim update in 2021. The NAPCP serves as a mandatory report to be submitted by each EU Member State every four years, as outlined in Article 10(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/2284. This comprehensive document covers assessments of both air quality and air pollution emissions, specifically focusing on NO_X, SO_X, NMVOC, NH₃, and PM_2.5.

EnvEcon Decision Support was commissioned to provide Small Area (SA) level analytics to inform investment and targeting decisions in the built environment for the Sustainable Energy West (SEW) area. Using our Home-Heating Poverty Risk Index (HH-EPRI), we conducted a spatial analysis of energy poverty risk in SEW at the SA level. The HH-EPRI is one part of our broader built environment decision support analytical suite, BUIL-DS.

Comprising three sub-indices—heating requirements, building requirements, and household characteristics—the HH-EPRI addresses distinct elements of energy poverty risk. These three sub-indices are integrated and weighted to generate the overall HH-EPRI. The final HH-EPRI, mapped at the SA level, ranges from 1 (low energy poverty risk) to 9 (high energy poverty risk). Individual sub-index analyses can also be undertaken with this system.

The HH-EPRI, along with the comprehensive BUIL-DS system, offers the capability for scenario modelling to assess intervention impacts on energy use, energy savings, and climate and air emissions. Potential scenario analysis includes:

1. Modelling the impact of deploying heat pumps and fabric retrofit actions in specific areas, considering the areas where action is most urgent.
2. Identifying local home typologies from which the greatest financial and/or environmental benefits of retrofit can be realised, supporting the development of target ‘clusters’ of work.
3. Testing the efficacy of existing policies in relation to heat pump deployment and fabric energy efficiency rollout across the domains of energy savings, emissions impacts, home heating poverty risk, household cost benefits, and securing a ‘Just Transition’.
4. Assessing the needs of the construction sector so that in-region and local capacity to implement retrofit targets can be assessed and developed.

The team worked with a number of Directorate General units from the European Commission, led by DG REFORM, in supporting the development of the Territorial Just Transition Plan for the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. This major work involved extensive national and international stakeholder engagement, detailed and varied spatial analytics, and the ultimate definition of potential pathways for supporting a just transition in the ‘most affected territory’ in Ireland. The deliverables were designed to support Ireland in securing access to the EU’s Just Transition Mechanism.

The team have developed a composite indicator for assessing energy poverty risk at a fine spatial scale in the context of a Just Transition for Climate. The open source published method can be applied to assess the impact of various interventions (e.g. carbon tax, retrofit strategy) on exacerbating or mitigating energy poverty risk in a high resolution spatially referenced manner. The research is available at – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520305127

The team is providing analytical review of EDF’s extensive history of policy engagement with a view to identifying what works and thereafter recommending how EDF’s ‘DNA’ may be successfully replicated and scaled further into the future.

EnvEcon consulting developed and executed the regulatory impact assessment for the 2020 proposed levy on single use disposable cups within Ireland.