An Cosantóir

16 | NS International Energy Award by Lt Cdr Patricia Butler (NS Press Office) O n 25th September 2013 the Naval Service received the award for International Energy Project of the Year from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Presented at the World Energy Engineering Congress in Washington DC, this award recognises international energy projects that either present a first-of-a-kind approach in the country where it has been implemented or are more conventional in nature but have achieved significant success. The Naval Service entry was based on its Energy Management System (EnMS), which has led to significant energy, cost and emissions savings since its implementation. The NS is unique in that it is the first state organisation to become certified to the International Energy Management Standard, ISO 50001, and is the first military organisation to fully undertake the challenge of placing energy efficiency as a key cornerstone of its requirements subject to external scrutiny. As the maritime element of the Defence Forces, the NS is the state's principal seagoing agency with a general responsibility to meet contingent and actual maritime defence requirements in addition to providing other services such as fishery protection, An Cosantóir Dec 2013/Jan 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie maritime search-and-rescue, dealing with maritime pollution, and assisting An Garda Síochána, and Customs. The Service uses its fleet of eight ships, supported by its land-based assets, to carry out these requirements within Ireland's maritime domain (an area of approximately 1,000,000 km2 of some of the most hostile sea conditions in the world) and beyond. In 2007, with the impending purchase of larger ships to cover extended areas of international sovereign responsibility coupled with the start of the economic downturn, NS command recognised that increased fuel costs, decreasing budgets and increased areas of operational responsibility potentially conflicted. The NS responded to this challenge by targeting improved use of energy resources and placing energy efficiency as a cornerstone of its day-to-day operations. Further to this, in response to European Directive 2006/32/EC to increase energy efficiency, the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) was published. This resulted in a target adopted by the DF of a 33% reduction in absolute energy consumption to be achieved by 2020. As marine gas oil (MGO) consumption formed approximately 90% of NS energy usage,

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