RENEWABLE ENERGY:If you move to renewables, make sure to factor in energy efficiency into your decision, writes Claire O'Connell.

THE BEST things in life are free, which means that oil isn't one of them. With the cost of a barrel soaring skywards, the new bottom line in business is about keeping a lid on energy costs.

But before you go racing off to build a thicket of wind turbines in the back field or solar panels on your roof, stop and think. The wisest way to invest is to factor in energy efficiency into your decision-making processes across the board.

That's according to Dr Brian Motherway, who heads the industry division at Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). The agency offers advice and grant aid to those who want to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels by turning to renewable energy sources like sun, wind and biomass.

"I think renewables are becoming mainstream, there are thousands of people looking at it now," says Motherway.

"People often jump to the renewable solution and that's often right, but we would say to them 'Have you thought about the efficiency side?'," he says, advising businesses to look at factors like insulation, the efficiency of machinery and training in staff awareness.

Once your business is using energy efficiently, you are set to get the most out of renewable energy generation, he says. "It can make a big difference to the economics and there are lots of renewable technologies out there, you have wind and solar. Soon we will have wave and tidal," says Motherway. "They all have a place in the mix but at the moment some of them are more economical, more mature than others."

Solar-thermal energy is one of the most established renewable options in Ireland, and our apparent lack of strong sunshine seems to be no impediment. "It's very much a viable option here," says Motherway. "At the moment there are thousands of households putting in solar panels to heat their water, and plenty of businesses are doing it as well."

Solar-thermal panels convert the sun's energy into heat, and so can be used for local space and water heating. The approach can be particularly effective for reducing dependence on conventional heating in businesses such as Bewley's hotel near Dublin airport. "They literally covered their roof with solar panels and that provides about half their hot water needs directly," says Motherway.

Wind also provides businesses with a renewable option, and the wind energy sector has seen strong growth, he adds. "Wind energy has really taken off in Ireland, a lot of people want to work with it, but there are a lot of technical issues. When you get beyond a certain level of wind, there's a thing about control, and what about when the wind's not blowing and you want to use the power - the same issues linked with solar [ thermal] to a certain degree."

Other options include geothermal heat pumps, which tend to suit new builds rather than existing premises, and biomass energy, with woodchip boilers being a popular choice, notes Motherway. "We have grant-aided over 300 [ renewable energy] projects in the past couple of years to the tune of about €6.5 million. About half of those are biomass boilers. You see them in small installations like GAA clubs up to very large factories, especially if they can burn their sawdust byproduct."

But Ireland lags behind other countries that offer incentives to install renewable energy options, such as infrastructure allowing people to sell renewably-sourced electricity to the national grid. This is something currently under review, says Motherway.

"It's on the way. We have a micro-generation programme in SEI that's looking at the structure of how do you feed it in, and what tariff do you pay for it. Whatever price the grid buys in electricity at, it has to sell it on at the same price, so it's a complex enough equation," he says. "It's not something you can fix overnight, but it's very much Government policy to address it and we are working on it actively. We do expect that in a year or so there will be rules and prices for selling power into the grid from those kinds of systems."

And while the cost of renewable technologies is likely to come down in the future, he advises businesses to take the long-term view about investing now.

"With oil at the price that it's at, this is going to be a key issue in business competitiveness. And these are future-proofing decisions, it's not always about what are the costs going to be this year or next year, we are talking about a trend. Carbon is becoming more expensive, oil is becoming more expensive and scarce, so businesses looking at 10- or 20-year time horizons are realising the landscape is changing and they are making decisions now," he says.

"Not everyone has the capital ready, and we do appreciate that, but it's not always about capital outlay. Next time you are replacing your boiler, replace it with the right boiler. It doesn't usually add to your costs if you make the right decision at the right time."

Meanwhile, Motherway suggests that businesses with an interest in renewable options talk to commercial suppliers about the kinds of returns they are likely to get. He also invites people to contact SEI about support schemes.

For more details of support programmes for renewable energy in business, visit www.sei.ie/business