The government’s commitment to its climate change action plan is ’very impressive’ but the reality of cost has to be remembered.

That was the message from Dr David Quirk, who gave a talk at the Mountain View Innovation Centre on how the Isle of Man can be carbon neutral.

The talk, organised by University College Isle of Man, saw Dr Quirk, of the Manx Geological Survey, outline the costs and options involved in reaching carbon net zero.

Speaking to the Examiner, Dr Quirk said going for the target of 75% renewable energy by 2035 ’involves a big upfront cost’.

He added: ’My feeling is that companies will need some sort of incentive, it’s the same in the UK.

’Heading towards 2040/50, we could be almost entirely renewable energy and have phased out gas power.

’But there is a couple of issues, one is what to do immediately. The Isle of Man produces a lot of carbon dioxide every year, so there has to be some way of capturing carbon.

’At the moment, peat and trees are the way of doing that, so it makes sense.

’The other thing is that renewable energy by itself is unpredictable.’

Dr Quirk explained this by saying that Pulrose power station, can be ’turned up’ when demand requires it, but wind and solar power still have issues around how to store power.

Dr Quirk was born in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was 13, when his Manx parents returned to the Isle of Man.

By then, he and his brother were already collecting rocks, fossils and minerals, a love which eventually ended up with a PhD and a career in geology.

While the are going to be great challenges ahead if the island is going to reach carbon neutrality, Dr Quirk said the government’s climate change action plan, created by Professor James Curran is ’very impressive’.

remarkable

He added: ’It is remarkable actually how quickly the island has moved on this.

’Even just to get that report out is phenomenal and I think everybody involved in it should be congratulated.

’And to aim to get a Bill through in another six months is going to be amazing. So the way I treat it is that it’s going to be exciting times.

’If the Isle of Man can’t afford to do this then no one can, is the way I look at it.’

Professor Curran’s report outlined two potential targets for the island to have achieved by the end of this decade.

The higher ambition would be for a 45% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2030 and the lower ambition scenario would see a 25% reduction.

If the government and Tynwald were to go down the higher target route, which Professor Curran said his report ’strongly recommends’, it would result in a total estimated cost to the public purse of £25m per year.

Dr Quirk says he thinks the island will probably ’be somewhere in the middle’ by 2030.