Poolbeg Incinerator
Unsustainable Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Section 8 and Appendix 8 of the EIS.
The EIS states in Section 8.4.2 of Appendix 8.2 that burning the waste in the proposed incinerator produces more greenhouse gas emissions than treating the same waste using landfill with anaerobic digestion (AD). The difference between the treatments is 551,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the life of the proposed plant. (Table 8.11)
On page 21 of the non-technical summary of the EIS the applicant states:
9.3. Climate
9.3.1. An assessment was undertaken of the impact of the Facility on climate, in particular the greenhouse gas emissions from the Facility were quantified and compared with the alternative of landfilling the same amount of waste. The Facility was found to have marginally less greenhouse gas emissions than the landfilling alternative.
This statement is wrong. The applicant’s detailed analysis states the opposite at Section 8.4.39 on page 8.29 where we find:
However, landfilling in conjunction with anaerobic digestion offers a small net savings over incineration of the order of 0.03% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland in 2012 (see Figure 8.6).
In plain terms incineration is the worst option available.