Energy show generates plenty of interest

ANYONE WHO doubts the public penetration of the energy/environment message should have seen queues in the rain at the RDS yesterday for The Energy Show.

With upward of 217 stands – and more added at the last hour – Sustainable Energy Ireland must be best pleased with the trade turnout and attendance. So much so, that emergency registration desks were organised to cater for the crowds that came pouring in, just as the Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan mounted the podium to deliver the official opening.

Rising to the occasion like an actor faced with a full house, Ryan delivered his lines with an evangelist’s force of voice and gesticulation. Clearly the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) beckons, should the Greens not do well at the next general election.

To judge by his listeners – did we say ‘audience’? – there is still a sizeable constituency for whom energy-saving has become a domestic priority.

Only a minority of Foxrock voices brayed over the predominantly country and farming attendance, though not a cloth cap in sight.

Today’s landowners and self-build craftsmen favour suits or smart jacket and jeans when inspecting likely savings for their energy-conscious enterprises.

From clean attic insulation to thermal heat pumps, from junior wind turbines for your back garden to solar panels for the roof or free-standing, there was enough innovation to seriously threaten the future of oil exploration.

Not one stand, as far as we could see, promoted fossil fuels.

Mass use of wind, wave and solar has arrived with a vengeance.

Those stands with domestic energy saving devices generated enough interest from ordinary punters to keep sales demonstrators literally on their toes for most of the day.

The hybrid cars provoked their own crowds of enthusiasts with Toyotas version being a big hit, especially as Minister Ryan promised that 10 per cent of the country’s vehicles would be electric by 2020.

We did not have the gall to ask what fuel was used in his own State car.

The Energy Show continues today at the RDS, 9am to 5pm.