The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has called on Government to accelerate the rollout of solar panels on both commercial and public buildings in its latest report.

The advisory body on climate policy advised Government that a more rapid deployment of solar energy is needed to boost energy use efficiency, to cut electricity costs, lower emissions and to make households more resilient.

CCAC chair Marie Donnell stated that there is a need to “maintain the level of grants for the installation of solar PV”.

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“This will not only help achieve our climate targets, but it will also reduce energy costs for consumers and improve the warmth of people’s homes,” she said.

New report

The new CCAC report also called for better co-ordination between the departments of agriculture, enterprise and the environment on ensuring growth in the biomethane sector.

It said that the biomethane incentives laid out in the draft renewable heat obligation bill 2025 have the potential to enable the development of biomethane across the country, but the expected timeframe for introduction in 2026 leaves “short-term uncertainty” for the “viability of ongoing projects”.

The CCAC stated that there exists a particular potential for biomethane to be used as a back-up source of electricity, as well as for high-temperature industrial applications which prove difficult to run on electricity.