OPINION: The answer to more frequent storms is not to go back to the bog

It’s over five weeks since Storm Eowyn unleashed its enormous and destructive power on Ireland. Mayo was one of the counties that bore the heaviest brunt. Tens of thousands of people lost power and water for far too long.
All around me, I heard people talking about reopening their fires, getting rid of the electric cooker, cancelling the order for the heat pump, desperately searching the internet for the most-wanted accessory in Ireland: the diesel generator.
I can understand this response, and I think that in rural Ireland particularly, where we have greater dispersal of housing reliant on overhead electricity wires, it makes sense to keep a solid fuel source of heat in the house (like an efficient solid-fuel stove), a good supply of torches and batteries, and access to a gas camping stove at least.
However, it doesn’t make sense to double down on the use of fossil fuels completely. In the eye of many more ferocious and damaging storms because of the real impact of climate change, it makes absolutely no sense to create even more damaging emissions by going back to oil and coal, or running back to the bog, for our primary fuel sources.
Electricity, generated from clean sources, like wind or solar, gives us the best chance to lessen the chance of damaging storms, floods or drought. At a community level, we really need to get serious about large-scale battery storage, particularly in rural Ireland, to prop up both power and water.
While it may be wise to keep a solid-fuel stove, it also makes an awful lot more sense to consider installing solar panels and battery storage with an emergency socket in your home. A 5kW battery can keep essential appliances, such as your fridge and freezer, running for up to 24 hours during a power outage. The beauty of modern solar panels is that they only require light, so they can provide some power but also help top up the battery.
Another response is to consider going electric the next time you buy a car. Modern EVs are like having a personal power station in your driveway. With the installation of an inverter switch, the power in the EV batteries can be used to power essential items in your home. When it runs low, you can take it to a recharging station in a location where electricity power had been restored, and start all over again.
This level of power generation would require a full EV – not a hybrid battery, which is not big enough. Unfortunately, also, the batteries in some of the smaller EVs may not be adequate either. It is also essential to get a certified electrician to install the inverter.
EVs are getting cheaper, and contrary to common perceptions, I think they actually make most sense for rural Ireland. We have more space to charge them cheaply at home and many of us drive more, so they make more economic sense in the long run.
In fact, as a smart climate move and a solution to further violent storms and black-outs, the Government should consider a double ‘storm force’ grant to encourage more people in rural counties like Mayo to switch to an EV. It’s a win all round – for rural EV drivers, for the planet, and for the grid and those tasked with fixing it when it goes down again, which unfortunately, may not be too far away.