Inspiring Ideas

Nature Based Solutions 

Nature-based Solutions involve working with nature to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, whilst supporting human well-being.  Nature based projects are a very effective and achievable way of taking climate action locally.  Kilkenny County Council and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications are currently working with and funding 22 Kilkenny communities to deliver on local climate action projects.

 Of the 22 communities, 13 are delivering projects with nature based elements such as rainwater harvesting, and planting native and pollinator friendly plants.  These projects account for €48,430 (9.5%) of the total €511,000 allocated under the Kilkenny County Council Community Climate Action Fund.

 Find out more about the projects by clicking here

Creative Climate Action

Staff from the Community and Culture Team (Creative Kilkenny) of Kilkenny County Council, in collaboration with colleagues in the Climate Action and Biodiversity Offices, created Gaia for the St. Canice's Cathedral Christmas Tree Festival 2024. She embodies our concern for the Earth, for biodiversity loss and climate change. She is also a symbol of hope - for what we can achieve if we heed the distress signals and work collectively to halt them. We were delighted to be voted in the TOP 5 Christmas Trees!! Chick here to read the full story.

Community Energy Hub

The Community Energy Hub is a new initiative to help households, community groups, and businesses to reduce energy use, and avail of grants. It was developed by the South East Energy Agency, in partnership with the Library Services in Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford and Waterford. The hub provides expert information on energy grants (online), plus monthly face-to-face drop in clinics with an energy engineer in local libraries. For more information, visit your local library.

Kilkenny Businesses Go Green

Watch four new videos showcasing the efforts, successes and challenges of four local businesses taking climate and sustainability action - Nicholas Mosse Pottery, Murphy Jewellers, Connolly’s Red Mills and Peter Walsh & Sons Manufacturing. The Local Enterprise Office undertook this initiative to coincide with International Day of Climate Action and to provide support and inspiration for Kilkenny businesses. See the Invest Kilkenny Website, Kilkenny County Council YouTube channel or contact the Local Enterprise Office.

Community Climate Action Funding

Ideas of what you can do to take climate action in your local area.

Click here or click on the image below for more details 

Climate Action Case Studies in Kilkenny

See below some case studies on how projects are working towards addressing climate change in County Kilkenny. Over time this page will document additional sample projects and will hopefully give you inspiration and insight into what can be achieved. 

Active Travel

In August 2022 Kilkenny City became host to Bolt E-Bikes, facilitated by Kilkenny County Council’s Active Travel Department.  Bolt now have E-Bikes in over 500 cities around the world. Bolt bikes are made from 100% recycled aluminium, and their swappable [BM1]  battery gives a 90km range per charge. Currently there are 80 E-Bikes available throughout the city, spread across 47 parking locations. 3,714 people have used the bikes in their first year alone racking up over 33,000 individual journeys and an overall distance of 68,140 km[BM2].Compared to driving, this has added up to a carbon saving of approximately 10,000kg. This is equivalent to heating 2 homes for a year.

The Watershed

The Watershed Kilkenny is no stranger to using sustainable methods to heat and power their facilities. Two of the most recent retrofits included installing a new woodchip boiler and a 150kwp Solar PV system.

WoodCo supplied the Watershed with a 500kW wood chip boiler as part of an ESCO agreement. This means that the Watershed had no capital costs but instead pays for the heat it uses at an agreed price as part of a 15-year ESCO agreement, with WoodCo owning and maintaining the boiler. The Renewable heat is benchmarked against current gas prices and is guaranteed to be cheaper than gas. The Watershed are currently paying €0.06/kwh compared to approximately €0.13 for gas. The woodchip is sourced locally and delivered every two weeks. The Watershed requires 500 tonnes of wood chip per annum and this results in savings of up to 300 tonnes of CO2 per annum compared to gas which they had previously used.

A 150kwp Solar PV system was installed at the Watershed in late 2022 and so far the array has produced over 103,000kwh. Assuming the final production figure for the year is around 117,000kwh, the Watershed is set to generate €44,500 worth of electricity based on their electricity bills showing them paying 38c/kwh. In addition to this a further 55 tonnes of CO2 emissions will not be emitted into the atmosphere. The Watershed was also successful in securing a 30% Better Energy Community (BEC) grant towards the project. 

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO)

Kilkenny County Council are taking the lead in renewable fuels by introducing HVO into their fleet. HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a replacement fuel for diesel, made from recycled vegetable oil. It can reduce emissions by up 90%! The Council operates over 250 vehicles for roadworks, and other services such as the Fire Service, Civil Defence, Mobile Library and Parks Department. Together they produce over 25% of the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions. Many of these vehicles are large machines, and current technology isn’t suitable to replace them with electric alternative. HVO is an interim solution until more sustainable technologies are found.

In October 2023 [DL1] the Council will start a trial of HVO. If the trial is successful HVO could play a huge role in reducing the Councils’ greenhouse gas emissions. Although it’s more expensive than diesel, it has many benefits including:

• 90% less CO2 emissions than diesel
• No modification of vehicles required. It can be used in any diesel engine
• Can switch back to diesel at any time. This makes it low risk when it comes to fuel supply issues

Climate Action Video

Click on the new video below highlighting details about the new Kilkenny County Council Climate Action Plan 2024-2029.