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A comment on Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free country in Europe (2025). Parent comment

Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by redfloatplane on Monday March 09, 2026 @08:12AM (#47308031)
I think that's going to be very, very hard to sell to many people here in rural Ireland (Roscommon in my case). I would really love to see people stop burning turf but it's such a strong cultural thing that in some parts you'd be ostracised for even thinking the thought.

I've personally spoken to people (who are otherwise quite environmentally aware) who suggest they'd never vote for the Green Party because they'd take their turf away. It's a tough sell.

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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by jahnu on Monday March 09, 2026 @09:31AM (#47308843)
I think they should be allowed for cultural reasons but only if cut by hand like we did when I was a kid :)
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by disgruntledphd2 on Monday March 09, 2026 @11:05AM (#47310074)
> I think they should be allowed for cultural reasons but only if cut by hand like we did when I was a kid :)

Me too! That was a lot of work, and surprisingly hard to stack.

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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by jahnu on Monday March 09, 2026 @11:26AM (#47310347)
And turning it would cut your fingers to shreds! But it was great if the weather was fine.
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by disgruntledphd2 on Monday March 09, 2026 @01:01PM (#47311784)
Which it almost never was :/
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by detritus on Monday March 09, 2026 @03:18PM (#47314045)
Thank you both for the imagery here - quite beautiful, in its way.

This has made me remember having to go out to the coal shed and fill up a brass bucket and then come back in all covered in coal dust.

I've not thought about That Smell in years!

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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by jahnu on Monday March 09, 2026 @03:58PM (#47314598)
Did you have one of those ubiquitous brass boxes beside the hearth?
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by detritus on Wednesday March 11, 2026 @02:57PM (#47339702)
No, we had some antique brass bucket thing that I'd invariably have to drag in, accompanied by complaints that I was doing so, because obviously I'd put way too much in, so I didn't have to go out later to get more...
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by invalidusernam3 on Monday March 09, 2026 @11:15AM (#47310184)
How much impact does it realistically have on climate change? I would expect it to be relatively small compared to things like owning a car?

In a perfect world we would want to reduce emissions as much as possible in every facet of life, but in the real world I think we should pick battles that have the biggest impact.

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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by asdff on Tuesday March 10, 2026 @01:29AM (#47319386)
Might be one of those situations where globally it is irrelevant but heavily fouls up local air due to geography or prevailing airflow patterns.
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by mrspuratic on Tuesday March 10, 2026 @07:56AM (#47322013)
Smoke yes, but you're also turning a carbon sink into a carbon source. At ~16% of the island's surface area, peatland stores an estimated 53% of soil based carbon. (source: Irish Peatland Conservation Council)
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Re:Ireland shuts last coal plant, becomes 15th coal-free cou... by asdff on Tuesday March 10, 2026 @03:52PM (#47327986)
It grows back right?
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