Air Monitoring Project Could Provide Olympic Legacy of Cleaner Air

Scientists are working around London in the biggest ever air monitoring exercise in the city’s history. The weather could make a crucial difference to whether pollution rises to significantly high levels during the Olympics – and current warm weather conditions are expected to create a build-up of smog. During the Games, meteorologists from the University … Read more

Bus Eireann Pilots Ireland’s First Ever Natural Gas-powered Bus

Bus Eireann is trialing the country’s first natural gas-powered bus in a move that may help reduce fuel costs and benefit the environment. The natural gas-powered city bus is operating across a number of city routes in Cork until August in a trial that will examine the potential fuel and emission savings from the vehicle, … Read more

Review of the Smoky Coal Ban

The Government has announced a review and public consultation of the ‘smoky coal ban’ regulations. The ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous fuel (or ‘smoky coal ban’) was first introduced in Dublin in 1990 in response to severe episodes of winter smog that resulted from the widespread use of smoky coal for … Read more

Innovative Green Station Wall to Deliver Cleaner Air

An innovative 200 square metre green wall on a central London Tube station wall designed to trap pollution on one of London’s busiest roads, has been unveiled. The visually stunning green wall has taken just a month to install and, as well as having practical environmental benefits, is an attractive leafy addition to Marylebone Road. … Read more

Clare County Council’s 2011 Environmental Inspection Plan

The Environment Section of Clare County Council has announced details of its annual environmental inspection plan which sets out a planned work programme aimed at maintaining and enhancing County Clare’s natural environment. The Plan sets out the inspection criteria for environmental inspections across all of the environment work areas including water, waste, air quality, noise … Read more

New Standard for Coal to Reduce Air Pollution

The Government has introduced a new, legally binding, low sulphur standard for coal used in the residential market. All bituminous coal placed on the market for residential use must now have a sulphur content of no more than 0.7%. Approximately half a million tonnes of bituminous coal was imported last year for use by Irish … Read more

Green Light for Cleaner, More Fuel-efficient Vans

The European Parliament has given a green light for cleaner, more fuel-efficient vans by voting to introduce CO2 limits in the EU for new vans and other light commercial goods vehicles. The rules, agreed with Member States, include incentives to make highly-efficient vehicles as well as penalties for manufacturers that miss the targets. If endorsed … Read more

Air Quality in Ireland is Generally Good

The EPA report ‘Air Quality in Ireland 2009 – Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality’ shows that air quality in Ireland was generally good throughout the country. The report provides an overview of air quality in Ireland for 2009, based on data obtained from 28 monitoring stations. Data from the EPA monitoring program shows that … Read more

More Hydrogen Buses for London

EU funding has enabled Transport for London (TfL) to make provision for three more hydrogen buses that will enable an entire bus route in London to use this greener, cleaner technology, helping to improve air quality in the English capital. TfL has secured Eur5.67 million of funding as part of the EU’s Cleaner Hydrogen in … Read more