High-profile members of the Irish Academy of Engineering have distanced themselves from the organisation’s call for Ireland to revert to burning coal to generate electricity. The academy also wants a return to oil and gas exploration and said the Government’s planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal needed to be much bigger than envisaged. Prof Linda Doyle, the provost of Trinity College Dublin and a member of the academy, said the recommendations were “not wise”. Brian Ó Gallachóir, professor of sustainability at University College Cork, said: “I totally dissociate myself from the recommendation.” Marguerite Sayers, deputy chief executive of ESB – which runs the country’s former coal-burning electricity plant at Moneypoint, Co Clare – is also a member. ESB issued a statement saying: “Her membership of any organisation does not imply endorsement of all positions or recommendations advanced by those organisations.” The academy is a group of engineers currently holding or retired from senior roles in the public and private sector. It has 180 members, admitted by nomination and election, and describes itself as an “expert resource available to governments for information and practical advice”. Its most recent reports say Government policy places too much emphasis on reducing carbon emissions at the expense of energy security. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel after peat but the academy says ending coal-burning at Moneypoint “was a mistake”.ESB has converted Moneypoint to oil-burning as a limited backup facility in case of emergency, but that will end in 2029. The academy says it should be returned to coal until 2036 and while still treated as a last-option power source, its generation capacity should be much larger.It also seeks that “an attractive-as-possible package is presented to potential [oil and gas] exploration companies” and that the planned LNG terminal in the Shannon Estuary should be enlarged.Reinforcing reliance on fossil fuels would undermine stated Government policy, national climate law and international climate commitments. ESB said it continued to progress Moneypoint as a renewables hub but said the deputy chief executive supported “informed debate” and “professional bodies that bring together a diversity of views on these complex issues”. Doyle said she also supported debate but: “The climate crisis and biodiversity loss are the defining crises of our time and while there are few easy answers, a return to fossil fuels, in my opinion, is not a wise or sustainable path forward.” Ó Gallachóir said: “Dependence on fossil fuels leads to both Irish society and Ireland’s economy being very exposed and vulnerable to geopolitical events that we have no control over. “Another impact of our dependence on fossil fuels is our continued contribution to the worsening climate crisis, which also increases our vulnerability as a society and for our economy.”