Inspiring Ideas

Climate Action Case Studies in Kilkenny

See below some case studies on how projects are working towards addressing climate change in County Kilkenny. Over time this page will document additional sample projects and will hopefully give you inspiration and insight into what can be achieved. 

Active Travel

In August 2022 Kilkenny City became host to Bolt E-Bikes, facilitated by Kilkenny County Council’s Active Travel Department.  Bolt now have E-Bikes in over 500 cities around the world. Bolt bikes are made from 100% recycled aluminium, and their swappable [BM1]  battery gives a 90km range per charge. Currently there are 80 E-Bikes available throughout the city, spread across 47 parking locations. 3,714 people have used the bikes in their first year alone racking up over 33,000 individual journeys and an overall distance of 68,140 km[BM2].Compared to driving, this has added up to a carbon saving of approximately 10,000kg. This is equivalent to heating 2 homes for a year.

The Watershed

The Watershed Kilkenny is no stranger to using sustainable methods to heat and power their facilities. Two of the most recent retrofits included installing a new woodchip boiler and a 150kwp Solar PV system.

WoodCo supplied the Watershed with a 500kW wood chip boiler as part of an ESCO agreement. This means that the Watershed had no capital costs but instead pays for the heat it uses at an agreed price as part of a 15-year ESCO agreement, with WoodCo owning and maintaining the boiler. The Renewable heat is benchmarked against current gas prices and is guaranteed to be cheaper than gas. The Watershed are currently paying €0.06/kwh compared to approximately €0.13 for gas. The woodchip is sourced locally and delivered every two weeks. The Watershed requires 500 tonnes of wood chip per annum and this results in savings of up to 300 tonnes of CO2 per annum compared to gas which they had previously used.

A 150kwp Solar PV system was installed at the Watershed in late 2022 and so far the array has produced over 103,000kwh. Assuming the final production figure for the year is around 117,000kwh, the Watershed is set to generate €44,500 worth of electricity based on their electricity bills showing them paying 38c/kwh. In addition to this a further 55 tonnes of CO2 emissions will not be emitted into the atmosphere. The Watershed was also successful in securing a 30% Better Energy Community (BEC) grant towards the project. 

Housing Retrofit Scheme

The South East Energy Agency in partnership with Kilkenny County Council recently completed  a pilot project for near zero energy homes, the successful project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The aim of the project was to offer people access to new affordable near-zero energy / low carbon homes, whilst also reducing home building costs by 25% and carbon emissions by 60%. There were two areas where this pilot was undertaken under this programme in Kilkenny.

One of the developments is located in Graiguenamanagh, which on completion  had two one-bedroom apartment-sized housing units with a Better Energy Rating (BER) of A1. This build was equipped with a 2kPV solar panel and heat pumps where the heat is distributed through mechanical ventilation and heat recovery.

The second pilot was completed in Mullinavat, this pilot saw the construction of two semi-detached two-bedroom housing units. The BER for this build is an A3,  and has reduced embodied carbon significantly in comparison to standard builds. This build also features 2kPV solar panels along with heat pumps where the heat is also distributed through mechanical ventilation and heat recovery.

Both of these pilot projects have a 30% - 60% reduction in embodied carbon, compared to standard concrete brick builds, through using low carbon materials in construction. These homes will also use less fuel through the improved airtightness, better insulation and installed solar panels. Kilkenny County Council will be using these properties as social housing.  A digital platform is also being developed for developers to design homes using the principles learned from this pilot.

Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP). 

Kilkenny County Council is the lead authority in the Eastern Region of the Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP). The PLEEP is a national project for the upgrading of Public Lighting infrastructure from incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient LED lanterns. Public Lighting is responsible for 34.8% of Kilkenny County Councils energy consumption. The target energy savings for the PLEEP is 70% with a minimum saving estimated at 50% of original consumption. An even higher saving could be made through the introduction of “dimming and trimming” this is where lights can be set to dim outside of peak hours and trim to refine where the light is emitted therefore protecting our natural environment and surrounding from light pollution. To date almost half of the 10,726 lanterns in Kilkenny have been upgraded LED fittings. With an estimated payback period of 10 years and a life span of 25 years. Kilkenny County Council will not only see a significant reduction in energy consumption and emissions, but also significant cost savings. The predicted emissions savings of 1.28ktCO2eq would go a long way in meeting the 51 percent reduction in emissions set out in the Kilkenny County Climate Action Plan for 2030. Other benefits include less maintenance, less light pollution due to no orange glow and increased public safety as the new lights shows true colour and can be directed.

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO)

Kilkenny County Council are taking the lead in renewable fuels by introducing HVO into their fleet. HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a replacement fuel for diesel, made from recycled vegetable oil. It can reduce emissions by up 90%! The Council operates over 250 vehicles for roadworks, and other services such as the Fire Service, Civil Defence, Mobile Library and Parks Department. Together they produce over 25% of the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these vehicles are large machines, and current technology isn’t suitable to replace them with electric alternative. HVO is an interim solution until more sustainable technologies are found.

In October 2023 [DL1] the Council will start a trial of HVO. If the trial is successful HVO could play a huge role in reducing the Councils’ greenhouse gas emissions. Although it’s more expensive than diesel, it has many benefits including:

• 90% less CO2 emissions than diesel
• No modification of vehicles required. It can be used in any diesel engine
• Can switch back to diesel at any time. This makes it low risk when it comes to fuel supply issues

Climate Action Video

Click on the new video below highlighting details about the new Kilkenny County Council Climate Action Plan 2024-2029.