Sustainable Clonakilty

What is the objective of Clonergy 2020?

To enable the transition of Clonakilty and the surrounding areas to energy neutrality through renewable energy, in order to support a sustainable economy and quality of life for the community.

How is the Clonergy 2020 objective to be achieved?

1.    Through understanding how much energy Clonakilty uses.

2.    Conserving as much of that energy as possible.

3.    Identifying local sources of renewable energy that could be utilised, including encouraging people to produce their own renewable energy – solar etc.

Wood Gasification plant, Güssing

4.    Encouraging local public/private partnerships to establish small renewable energy power stations close to the town.

Why do this?

•    To give a stable and predictable energy supply to the town at stable prices.

•    To retain money spent on energy in the local economy.

•    To create employment.

•    To encourage eco-tourism.

•    Environmental benefits.

•    Because it has been achieved in Güssing, Austria and we think it could work here too.

What is the Energy Working Group?

The sub-group of Sustainable Clonakilty made up of volunteers who are driving the Clonergy 2020 project.

How can I be sure any information I give to Clonergy 2020 Interviewers will be kept confidential?

We comply with The Data Protection Act.  There is no connection between the data and the householder’s or business’s name or address, as the information on name and address will not be entered into the computer containing the data.

All data is aggregated and the information pertaining to any individual is not be able to be publicly identified.

However, an individual will be able to receive a copy of their own statistics, if they desire it, for monitoring their own progress towards energy conservation.

We need names and addresses to contact people and also to follow up in the years ahead when we need to collect the data again in order to assess progress in our energy usage. This information will be kept in hard copy and linked to the data in the computer by reference number only.

All interviewers have signed confidentiality and laptop security agreements with Sustainable Clonakilty. They will not reveal any information they became aware of during the course of the interview.

How does an energy audit relate to a Building Energy Rating (BER)

A BER has a totally different focus.  It is about the energy rating of a building. It takes a trained assessor about a day to complete and may cost upwards of €200.

Our audit seeks to find out how much energy Clonakilty is using.  It is the actions of people that consume energy. We are interested in how much energy people are using and what they are using it on. Firstly, this will help us target specific areas of energy consumption that may be wasteful.  And secondly, find out how much energy Clonakilty will need to produce to become self-sufficient in the longer term.

Why doesn’t Sustainable Clonakilty ask ESB for the amount of electricity the town uses?

We have asked them, but they are legally bound not to divulge the information. Information about electricity consumption has to be obtained from the customer directly.

Will anyone be able to identify my business or household from the reports released?

No.  Data will be aggregated and no one person’s information will be able to be identified.

Güssing resources and uses. Clonakilty also has wind. Slide courtesy of ECRE, Güssing.

Biomass digestor, Güssing