BASF is the first chemical company to achieve gold-level certification according to the European Water Stewardship (EWS) standard for its production site in Tarragona, Spain. In order to attain this certificate, auditors of third party certification body TÜV Nord Integra assessed the entire water management performance of BASF’s production site, from extraction of water at … Read more
The Cabinet has approved proposals for the preparation of a new Planning and Development Bill to establish a new Planning Regulator. The establishment of a Planning Regulator was the most significant recommendation regarding planning made by the Mahon Tribunal when it issued its final report in March 2012. According to Minister for Housing & Planning … Read more
Wind and solar energy company Mainstream Renewable Power is sponsoring a rowing expedition attempting a world first through the infamous Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic this summer. Three experienced Irish adventurers and one Canadian are attempting to become the first ever people to cross the 3,000 km passage by human power alone in a … Read more
Brian Conville has been awarded the Ecocem-sponsored Best Phase 6 Bricklaying Student in this year’s Dublin Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering and the Built Environment Awards. Brian is currently the National Skills Competition Bricklaying Champion, and has been training in DIT for the World Skills Competition, where he will travel and compete in Leipzig … Read more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the report ‘The Quality of Bathing Water in Ireland – An Overview for the Year 2012’. The 2012 bathing water season coincided with the wettest summer for over 50 years with many areas recording 2-3 times their expected summer rainfall. Despite this, the quality of Ireland’s bathing waters … Read more
An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland has launched judicial review proceedings in London to challenge the legality of UK Secretary of State Ed Davey’s decision to grant permission to build and operate a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in the Bristol Channel, Somerset, 150 miles from the Irish coast. In papers issued … Read more
Predictions on the threat of coastal flooding are leaving out a vital ingredient, claims a University of Hull scientist in the UK . A team led by Professor Dan Parsons (pictured) in the Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences is recreating realistic seabed conditions in the Total Environment Simulator at The Deep, Hull, to … Read more
Details are emerging from a recent research expedition to the Sub-Tropical North Atlantic. The objective of the expedition was to study the salt concentration (salinity) of the upper ocean. Scientists aboard the Spanish research vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa, including National University of Ireland Galway’s Dr Brian Ward with two of his PhD students, Graig Sutherland … Read more
With EU Member States having failed to reach a qualified majority – either in favour or against – a Commission proposal to restrict the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides, will apply from 1 December 2013. The proposed restrictions are designed to ensure that bees, which are so vital to the ecosystem and contribute over €22 … Read more
The rx3 team ‘cleaned up’ at the recent National Green Awards by taking home the Green Public Sector Award. RPS, engineering consultants based in Dublin, manage rx3, a Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government (DECLG) programme. Rx3 is designed to promote the development of new markets for waste resources similar to the ‘WRAP’ … Read more