The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) today announced that it is inviting submissions from manufacturers and suppliers to the new Accelerated Capital Allowances (ACA) equipment categories announced by the government as part of the Finance Act.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has announced that Ireland's renewable energy production is growing, and claimed that Ireland is "one of the world’s leading countries in the use of wind energy for electricity generation".

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan yesterday announced the government’s new support price structure for bio-energy. The guaranteed support price will range from 15 cent per kilowatt hour to 8.5 cent an hour depending on the technology deployed.

A new coalition of Irish business leaders has issued an open letter urging the government to leverage the State’s €17bn annual procurement spend to develop the green economy.

The CEOs and managing directors of companies including Siemens Ireland, Airtricity, Ecocem, Glen Dimplex and Bord Gais have signed up to Green for Growth, a coalition calling for the state to commit to buying greener goods and services to keep Ireland competitive domestically and internationally.

Green for Growth, a coalition of leading Irish businesses set up to demand strong government leadership on green procurement, will be launched tomorrow, Friday 14 May 2010 in The Annesley Suite, Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin 2 at 12pm. The coalition has been organised by Construct Ireland magazine.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan has announced that the government plans to recoup some of the profits big electricity generators have made through the EU's emissions trading scheme. 

Over Eur1 million per week in energy retrofit grants are currently being paid out by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), a government official has said.

Construct Ireland has picked up two awards at the 2010 Green Awards. Editor Jeff Colley won the green leader award and Construct Ireland picked up the green communications award for successful campaigning work on pay-as-you-save and a proposal to boost the impact of  Building Energy Ratings, which in both cases culminated in policy commitments in the renewed programme for government,  and planned launches later this year.

The energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, has announced details of a "green loans" scheme to help people pay for improvements to their homes to make them more energy efficient.

The scheme, which would see loans remain attached to the house where insulation, solar panels or other green technology was installed, aims to overcome the financial barriers and upfront costs people face when trying make their homes greener.

Figures released from Sustainable Energy Ireland reveal that over 100,000 Irish homes have had Building Energy Ratings completed to date, the majority of which were completed since January 2009, the first year for full implementation of the BER scheme. Introduced in 2007 as a requirement of the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, the rate of BER publications has steadily increased in 2009, averaging 300 per day, Which Sustainable Energy Ireland indicates an increasing awareness of and compliance with the legislation.

One of the mid-west region’s best known primary schools has moved to reduce its annual water and sewer charges by installing waterless urinal systems.

The Model School in Limerick City invested in the systems, installed by BR Waterless Solution, to offset the scale of metered water charges that were introduced for all schools and educational centres in January. 

The BER Assessors Association of Ireland will hold its AGM and a series of workshops tomorrow, Friday February 19, in the Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin.

The workshops are open to members and non-members of the association. Information stands will be hosted by FÁS, Flo Gas, Kingspan Insulation, Kingspan Solar, OWL, Ecological Building Systems, and Construct Ireland.

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan today announced the extension of the Accelerated Capital Allowance Scheme. The Scheme, detailed in the Finance Bill, allows companies to buy energy efficient equipment and write off its full cost against corporation tax in the year of purchase.

Rising energy use in buildings contributed to an increase of 1.5% in overall energy demand in 2008, despite the economy contracting by 3% over the same period, a new report from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) reveals today.

The retail and telecoms sectors were the big winners at Sustainable Energy Ireland's sixth annual awards in Dublin last Friday, with Dunnes Stores, Heatons, O2 and Eircom each taking awards at the all-island event.

The awards aim to highlight "excellence in business energy management", and this year included entries from over 100 organisations.

 

Ireland risks social and economic disaster from climate change unless the government takes urgent action, according to the Irish Academy of Engineers.

In a new report the group says delivering critical infrastructure must be prioritised, otherwise the country risks polluted drinking water, extensive flood damage and power blackouts.

An alarming new study jointly released by two prominent California-based environmental/economic think tanks concludes that unrelenting energy limits, even among alternative energy systems, will make it impossible for the industrial system to continue operating at its present scale, beyond the next few decades. The report finds that the current race by industries and governments to develop new sustainable energy technologies that can replace ecologically harmful and rapidly depleting fossil fuel and nuclear technologies, will not prove sufficient, and that this will require substantial adjustments in many operating assumptions of modern society.

Ireland’s largest employers knocked E60 million off their energy costs in 2008 through efficiency measures, energy minister Eamon Ryan announced yesterday at the Sustainable Energy Ireland global conference on energy management in Farmleigh, Dublin.