On December 12^th 2015, Ireland signed up to the Paris Climate Agreement, committing to limit worldwide temperature increase to 1.5°C. This requires Ireland to decrease its net level of carbon emissions to zero, before reaching the stage of actively decreasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Achieving this will require a nationwide strategy which takes on board all of the country’s energy providers and energy carriers. 

It is therefore vital to understand the feasibility and cost of any potential strategies before the nation adapts them. This project, Open Energy Source Mapping - Ireland (OESM-IE), uses computer modelling techniques to thoroughly map out different long term solutions to reducing Ireland’s emissions. Funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), OESM-IE opens these potential strategies up to the public, ensuring transparency, accessibility and the possibility of engagement and feedback from interested citizens.

Strategies for addressing Ireland’s carbon emissions will very likely involve significant increase in our use of renewable energy, but there will also be need for large scale energy storage. There are many different ways in which current energy production and use can be changed in order to accomplish this. OESM-IE provides a window into the practicalities and specificities of the different potential energy strategies Ireland could adapt to meet the goals set out by the Paris Agreement. 

OESM-IE is funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland Research, Development and Demonstration Programme (award SEAI RDD/00246 2018).