Large area of Galway City to become 'decarbonisation zone'

Shantalla, Westside and parts of Rahoon – as well as UHG and NUIG – have been designated by the local authority as an area where additional measures will be taken to cut carbon emissions, beyond those required elsewhere in the city.

As part of Government targets, overall emissions must be cut by 30% by 2030 but in this newly-identified zone, that target will be 51%.

Councillor Niall Murphy (Green) said this could be secured through a variety of measures including everything from the retrofitting of houses to the reduction of parents bringing children to schools by private car.

However, he said it would be imperative that adequate funding was secured and allocated in the right areas, to ensure the targets were met.

“As of today, there is no extra funding allocated to that decarbonisation zone, so the Council needs to be looking at the funding from central government it should be applying for. Funding can be made available but it’s of no use if the Council, or individuals, doesn’t apply for it,” said Cllr Murphy.

The new hybrid Bus Éireann buses being rolled out in the city have the ability to use GPS (global positioning software) to switch to continuous electric power with no exhaust emissions in decarbonisation zones. This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.