Students in Connemara empowered to reduce energy consumption at Greens Schools’ workshop

June 4th – Primary school students in Connemara learned about how they can take steps to conserve electricity, during the recent An Taisce Green-Schools’ regional energy workshop, in partnership with EirGrid, operator and developer of the national electricity grid.

The workshop, which took place at Scoil Naomh Ciarán, Cill Chiaráin, saw the students and their teachers engage in activities and experiments to help develop their awareness of energy consumption, and discover how they can lead the charge in their community when it comes to conserving energy.

They also learned about how EirGrid is playing a key role in decarbonising the energy system, by delivering critical infrastructure to support Government targets for 80% of our electricity to come from renewable sources.

This event was part of a series of workshops taking place across the country over the academic year, allowing students to learn more about where energy comes from, and what steps can be taken to effectively manage electricity use in their homes and schools.

Graduate Interconnection Engineer with EirGrid, Cathal O’Dwyer Boyle, spoke to students at the recent workshop about EirGrid’s leading role in decarbonising the electricity grid.

“We are delighted to see students learn more about how EirGrid is contributing to the secure transition to a low carbon electricity grid, as well as thinking more about energy consumption in their own communities,” he said.

“It is truly inspiring to see how passionate younger generations are about climate action, and workshops like these are a fantastic opportunity to empower young people to lead the charge when it comes to energy conservation.”

Rob Nelson, Green-Schools Energy Theme Co-ordinator, said: “Events such as these showcase the bright minds that will lead the way in securing our energy future and inspiring their schools, homes and communities.

“We would like to thank EirGrid for its support in allowing workshops such as these to happen, empowering young people to be part of the conversation.”

To date, over 3,000 schools have been awarded the energy flag since the beginning of the Green-Schools programme in 1997.