Greens in call for renewable energy

Ireland must learn from the latest oil dispute by ensuring it develops a self-sufficient market for renewable energy, it was …

Ireland must learn from the latest oil dispute by ensuring it develops a self-sufficient market for renewable energy, it was warned today.

Green Party TD Eamon Ryan said the supply problems following the halting of Russian oil exports through a pipeline to the EU showed the necessity for an independent and sustainable energy market.

"These developments show how important it is for countries to have an independent, secure and sustainable energy supply. EU member states including

Germany and Poland will be significantly affected by this action and will likely have to dip into strategic reserves," he said.

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"In the short-term they will be probably be able to cope with the disruption without major consequences, but as long as economies remain wedded to disappearing fossil fuels, energy supplies will never be secure."

Oil prices rose by a dollar in early trade to over $57 a barrel after Russian oil exports were halted through a pipeline which was catering for a fifth of Germany's demands.

A pipeline carrying oil across Belarus to Poland and Germany was stopped operating overnight due to a trade dispute between Moscow and Minsk.

The Druzhba, or Friendship, pipeline to Central Europe, one of the world's biggest, was affected. The supplies were halted at Poland's border.

The dispute initially erupted between Belarus and Moscow after a Russian energy company forced Belarus to pay an increase price for gas.