Paper short abstract:

The impact of the energy crisis of the 1970s in Ireland has been under examined in energy history discourses. Despite an increased global awareness of the environmental value of wetlands, the crisis prompted a renewed enthusiasm for the large-scale extraction of peat.

Paper long abstract:

Ireland’s peatlands throughout the twentieth century were sites of extraction and energy production. Promoted by political elites as a resource of national importance, peat mined from these landscapes was heavily subsidised with industrial practices justified by the perceived social and economic benefits to communities at the sites of extraction. Increased competition from other fuel sources for the generation of electricity significantly impacted the momentum of peat extraction over time as the energy economy became more complex. Another challenge to the peat industry was the 1971 Ramsar Convention which marked the first international consensus on the value of wetlands for water quality and ecosystems protection. Environmental consciousness was simultaneously emerging in Ireland in the movement to oppose the development of nuclear power.

Given this context, this paper will argue that despite these challenges, the energy crisis of the 1970s facilitated the increased extraction of peat in Ireland. Actors within the industry’s administration utilised the rhetoric of energy security to embed Ireland’s future in peat mining for several more decades. Through a detailed analysis of newspapers, government and scientific reports, and oral histories, this paper will further argue that the energy crisis did not catalyse a shift away from petroleum but rather an overall increase in the use of fossil energy across the island of Ireland. This complicated picture of an increased environmental consciousness emerging alongside a ramping up of the consumption of fossil energy situates Ireland within a globalised energy system based on production, consumption, and resistance.