The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how to achieve a low carbon European economy by 2050. In early 2011, the Commission plans to publish a Roadmap on options for ‘decarbonising’ the European economy by 2050 and the public consultation will feed into this. The roadmap will set out a strategy for reducing … Read more
Minister for Natural Resources, Conor Lenihan will front a major promotion of Ireland’s oil and gas exploration potential at a major international petroleum conference in Singapore. Ireland’s offshore exploration potential will take centre stage at the Oil and Gas Investment Asia conference where Minister Lenihan will deliver a keynote speech, in which he will declare … Read more
Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas emissions fell by 5.4 million tonnes (7.9%) in 2009, according to provisional Greenhouse Gas emissions figures just released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Agriculture remains the single largest contributor to the overall emissions, at 29.1% of the total, followed by energy (primarily power generation) and transport both at 21.1% share. The … Read more
Repak, the industry funded used packaging recycling scheme, has announced that due to the tough economic environment faced by its members that there will no increase in the 2011 fee membership. This is the third year in a row that membership fees have been frozen despite Repak maintaining all subsidies to recyclers at current levels, … Read more
Throughout next year, the north German port city of Hamburg will demonstrate how economic and ecological objectives can be reconciled. While Stockholm currently holds the title for 2010, Hamburg has been awarded ‘European Green Capital 2011’ by the European Commission. By displaying various best practice examples, Hamburg is proving how even a highly industrialised port … Read more
Under current policy settings, global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 could add up to nearly one third more than the benchmark needed to avoid dangerous climate change, according to the latest ‘gigatonne gap’ analysis conducted by WWF. Plugging The Gap, a paper released at the UN climate negotiations in Tianjin, China, shows that recent science … Read more
As part of a concerted effort to green the Wexford Festival Opera, 16 Wexford businesses were certified ‘green’ at a recent awards ceremony held at the Wexford Opera House. The 16 premises have met with environmental standards set down by the Green Hospitality Programme (GHP) and €concertive and are leading the way to making Wexford … Read more
Since 2007, €30 million in EU funding from the FP7 programme has been awarded to Irish researchers. This funding supports 95 projects being carried out by colleges and companies throughout Ireland, alongside European partners, to protect and improve our environment. At a conference today (October 6th), Irish and international experts addressed over 100 leading researchers … Read more
British households are now cooking and heating their homes for the first time with renewable gas produced from sewage. Biomethane gas from Didcot sewage works in Oxfordshire will produce enough renewable gas to supply up to 200 homes. The landmark project at Didcot – a joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas and Scotia Gas … Read more
A series of high-resolution computer models to assist land-use and fisheries managers in coping with the effects of climate change on sensitive peat land river catchments have been developed as part of the NDP funded RESCALE project (Review and Simulate Climate and Catchment Responses) at Burrishoole, Co Mayo. The research was led by the Department … Read more