The new shop will use 45% less energy than a comparable supermarket, and is expected to save 420 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Additionally, more than 90 jobs will be created at the store in Ballycarnane, in Tranmore.

The building will feature a wooden frame with timber purchased from a sustainable forest, the highest levels of insulation available and will recycle 70% of all the heat it uses in store, the Irish Times has said.

There will also be skylights to allow for less lighting use, and solar panels that will power the cash registers.

Refrigeration will come from an environmentally friendly carbon dioxide system, and will use 15% less than a normal cooler.

Tony Keohane, chief executive of Tesco Ireland said: “We have been proactively investing and trialling new technologies in our stores across the country and as a result we have developed a more sustainable blueprint for our new buildings.”

It is thought that the saving would be equivalent to taking 400 cars off of Ireland’s roads.

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