ESB International (ESBI) has entered an agreement with the pioneering tidal energy company Marine Current Turbines (MCT) to develop an initial phase of a 100MW tidal energy project off the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland. ESBI and MCT will work together to submit a proposal to the forthcoming Marine Leasing Round in Northern Ireland to … Read more
ScottishPower Renewables is to expand the capacity of its Whitelee wind farm by 217 megawatts (MW) to 539 megawatts, cementing its position as the largest wind farm in Europe. Using Alstom technology, the new capacity is slated to come on stream in 2012. The project will use 69 Alstom ECO 100 wind turbines with a … Read more
WINGAS Storage UK has received consent from the British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to develop its depleted gas field at Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire into an underground storage facility for natural gas. The UK’s need for a greater volume of gas storage, driven by the decline in production form the UK Continental Shelf, … Read more
The EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) has published its ‘Focus on Landfilling in Ireland’ report. The report examines the standards of operation and management at landfills in Ireland and charts the progress made since the EPA began licensing this sector 15 years ago. The report charts the fall in the number of municipal waste … Read more
There are over 492,000 primary school children in Ireland each bringing in over 2 million packed lunches weekly (or 80 million per year). Mother of four Shauna Walsh thought there must be a more environmentally friendly and easier to open method to pack the kids sandwiches. She developed the Paper Lunch Bags. The environmentally friendly … Read more
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, which operates the Coca-Cola franchise for Ireland, has officially opened a new energy efficient bottling plant, computerised warehouse, and community-focused visitors centre at Knockmore Hill, County Antrim. The €130 million facility employs 600 people and has the capacity to produce a wide range of non-alcoholic beverages for delivery throughout the entire … Read more
Shabra Group, Ireland’s only fully integrated reprocessing, recycling, manufacturing and supply company for plastic bottles and film, has officially opened a new €3.5 million plastic bottle sorting plant at its site in Castleblayney, County Monaghan. The state-of-the-art extension, supported by the Enterprise Ireland Growth Fund, is the only one of its kind here and among … Read more
A new 40km section of the M9 motorway from Carlow to Knocktopher was officially opened today (September 9th 2010) by Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD. This new section of motorway completes the fourth inter-urban motorway by connecting Waterford to Dublin via the new M9. The completion of the Carlow to Knocktopher scheme is estimated … Read more
The European Commission has launched a web-based consultation to gather input from a wide range of stakeholders on policy options for the European Union’s post-2010 EU biodiversity strategy. Opinions are sought from citizens, stakeholders, public administrations, business and civil society on issues including the shortcomings of the existing biodiversity policy, the new approach that the … Read more
No single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy, according to BP. Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. A report released by BP today concludes that decisions made by … Read more