Net Zero Government Initiative: UK Roadmap
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The Northern Ireland Energy Invest to Save fund was established in 2021 as one of the key
recommendations of the Energy Management Strategy and Action plan for Central
Government. This targeted funding offers 100% support for organisations to deliver energy
capital projects that otherwise would not be taken forward with the overarching aim of
mitigating and minimising the impact of energy price fluctuations on public service delivery.
Successful projects to date have covered areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy,
energy storage, EV charging infrastructure and automatic metering. Now into its thirds year
there is a greater need to focus on heat decarbonisation.
To facilitate this shift in emphasis work has been taken forward to embed key value
demonstrators in the government estate such as the South-West College Erne Campus
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development, which was the world’s first educational, and currently the largest, Passivhaus
Premium rated building. Along with being the first UK building to achieve Passivhaus Premium
and BREEAM outstanding certification, the college provides a blueprint for exemplar building
standards in the government estate. Additionally, the GeoEnergyNI
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project has launched
feasibility studies, to inform the design of geothermal heat networks, to decarbonise the
operation of public buildings on the Stormont and CAFRE Greenmount estates respectively.
Scope 2 emissions from electricity consumption
Scope 2 are emissions that an organisation causes indirectly, for example, the emissions
caused when generating the electricity used in a building would fall into this category. These
are measured separately to scope 1 emissions, which are the emissions an organisation
causes directly for example when heating a building or running a vehicle, and scope 3
emissions, which are emissions an organisation causes indirectly via its supply chain.
There are policies in place to support installation of renewable electricity and reduce electricity
usage in many parts of the UK government sector, against a backdrop of rapid decarbonisation
of electricity from the national grids in both Great Britain and the island of Ireland. As the UK’s
electricity grid becomes greener, the scope 2 emissions of an organisation connected to this
grid will reduce. If an organisation has on-site renewable generation such as photovoltaic
panels, this will also have a positive impact. Electrical energy efficiency can also reduce scope
2 emissions through reducing electrical demand.
Across Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) there is a target to decarbonise the
electricity system by 2035
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. Northern Ireland has set a goal for their electricity supply to be
80% renewable by 2030.
In Northern Ireland, the emission content and projected reduction in emissions resulting from
electricity generation differs to those in Great Britain. This is due to the operation of the Single
Electricity Market. SONI is the independent Transmission System Operator for Northern
Ireland who hold emissions data resulting from electricity generation in Northern Ireland.
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Project Gallery (passivhaustrust.org.uk)
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GeoEnergy NI - Unearthing The Heat Beneath Our Feet
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https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-unveiled-to-decarbonise-uk-power-system-by-2035