This document outlines EU and Irish policy and regulation driving the green economy, including: 1) EU 20-20-20 targets for 2020 of 20% reductions in GHG emissions, 20% improved energy efficiency, and 20% of energy from renewables. 2) Irish regulations include an emission trading scheme, energy efficiency standards for buildings and equipment, and smart metering. 3) Irish plans promote energy efficiency in the public sector through audits, procurement, and leadership on new technologies to leverage the market.

1. Policy and regulation as
drivers for the Green Economy
Patricia Lawless
21 May 2010

2. EU Policy
20:20:20
By 2020:
• 20% reduction in GHG emissions
• 20% improvement in energy
efficiency
• 20% share for renewables in the EU
energy mix

3. EU Legislation
Includes:
• Emission trading scheme
• Energy efficiency and services
• Standards in buildings, equipment
(and labelling), cars and fuel

4. National Energy Efficiency
Action Plan 2009-2020
“It is largely an enabling Directive,
intended to increase the focus on cost
effective and verifiable energy
efficiency measures and to
encourage the development of new
business and activities in the area of
energy services”

5. Energy Efficiency Actions
• Smart Meters
• Energy Efficiency Services
• Green Procurement

6. Commission for Energy
Regulation Information Paper
November 2007
“This paper starts from the position that smart metering
is an inevitable technological development…
… this paper proposes a framework in which the future
scope of smart metering arrangements … can be
established. The framework is intended to permit the
various potential applications and their interactions to
be … investigated.

7. Energy Efficiency and
Services Directive
“Member States shall ensure that, in so far
as it is technically possible, financially
reasonable and proportionate in relation to
the potential energy savings, final customers
for electricity, natural gas… are provided
with competitively priced individual meters
that accurately reflect the final customer's
actual energy consumption and that provide
information on actual time of use.”

8. Energy Efficiency and
Services Regulations
• Energy efficiency savings targets
• A higher indicative target for the public sector
• Monitoring and measuring energy savings
• Registration system for energy auditors
• Obligations for public bodies
– fulfil an exemplary role
– energy audits
– energy efficient public procurement
– purchase/lease of energy efficient buildings

9. Energy Efficiency and
Services Regulations Cont’d
• Empowers Minister to require energy suppliers
– to ensure the offer and promotion to customers of energy
efficiency services
– to ensure the availability and promotion to customers of energy
audits and energy efficiency improvement measures and/or
– to contribute an Energy Efficiency Fund established by the
Minister (except electricity and gas businesses).
• Energy suppliers may alternatively establish Voluntary
Agreements for the purposes of promoting energy
efficiency to their customers
• Provisions for energy efficient tariffs and informative
billing.

10. The National Energy Efficiency
Plan 2009-2012
•“The public sector represents a hugely significant part of the total
economy through its purchasing of over €10 billion of goods and
services each year.
•This considerable purchasing power can be used to leverage the
market to provide goods and services with the highest energy efficiency
standards.
•If approached systematically, the public sector has the potential to act
as an early user and pioneer of new and efficient technologies, thereby
demonstrating their feasibility to the private sector.
•In addition, the behaviour of the public sector sends a very important
leadership signal.
• Government, in leading by example, can demonstrate its commitment
to the energy efficiency agenda and offer confidence to others in the
markets that there is an exciting and profitable future for technologies
and services that emphasise energy efficiency.
•The performance of the public sector is, therefore, critical.”

11. Energy Efficiency and
Services Regulations
“SEI shall, with Ministerial approval,
publish guidelines on energy efficiency
considerations that should be considered
by public bodies when devising
assessment criteria for procurement of
goods and services. These guidelines
shall include a summary of those bodies’
obligations under Regulation 15 [efficient
buildings].”

12. Green Procurement Policy
• Identify the procurement areas where
green policies are most important
• Give real guidance on setting and
assessing compliance with green criteria
for specific products/services

13. Policy and regulation as
drivers for the Green Economy
Patricia Lawless
21 May 2010