ENERGY SAVING BLOG

From 1 January 2014, 3% of public buildings should be renovated each year, with the clear aim to save energy. Currently, the same percentage is renovated per year but in only half of the cases energy efficiency improvements are included (1, 5% energy related renovation rate). In practice, this could mean that walls are insulated, double glazing windows are installed in kindergardens, schools or townhouses, roofs are redone and inefficient heating boilers replaced.

Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear power is expected to increase demand for natural gas and speed up the development of renewable projects. The European Commission has been pushing hard for the integration and liberalisation of the electricity market and has funded the construction of cross-border interconnectors. Here at home, a single, all-island electricity market exists and talks are taking place on the development of renewable, off-shore energy projects with the British/Irish Council along with ministers from Northern Ireland and Scotland.

THE LAST two Irish winters delivered plenty of snow and ice, and if solar scientists are correct we had better get used to it. The sun seems to have gone on strike and the result will be Arctic wintertime conditions across northern Europe for the next 50 years. The sun should be getting more lively, [...]

Better Energy will replace the three existing residential programmes: Home Energy Saving Scheme (HES), Warmer Homes Scheme (WHS) and Greener Homes Scheme (GHS) under one umbrella, with the aim of making it easier for people to make an informed choice about the most suitable energy saving measure for them when retrofitting their homes.

However grant levels have been reduced (except for external wall insulation).

Greener Homes and Home Energy Saving schemes Suspended for Applications from Midnight on Monday 9th May, 2011 The Greener Homes and Home Energy Saving schemes have been suspended for new applications from Midnight, Monday 9th May, 2011 pending government announcements regarding the forthcoming Jobs Initiative. Following planned announcements this week by the Minister for Finance [...]

Mould is a significant problem for a number of properties in Ireland. Partially the damp climate is to blame but the quality of built and the ventilation system which is used in the property both have a significant effect on the probability of mould appearance.

Abraham Haim, a professor of biology at Haifa University in Israel, said that the bluer light that compact flourescent lamps (CFLs) emitted closely mimiced daylight, disrupting the body’s production of the hormone melatonin more than older-style filament bulbs, which cast a yellower light. Melatonin, thought to protect against some breast and prostate cancers, is produced [...]

According to Irish Times low solar activity is expected to cause the winter jet stream to bring bitterly cold Arctic air. GLOBAL CLIMATE is warming, with 2010 expected to go down as yet another record year. You can count on our winters being colder than usual, however, at least for the next few years. “There [...]

ENERGY COSTS: More people are finding it impossible to pay their increased electricity bills, but claiming a grant for insulating a house is a way to get some money back from the State, as well as to cut long-term costs. ONE OF the most depressing and shocking things about the downturn has been the number [...]

Ministers from Europe’s three biggest economies made the exceptional move in a commentary published by the Financial Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine and Le Monde. They jointly called for the European Union to deepen its planned reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions from 20 to 30 percent by 2020. “If we stick to a 20-percent cut, Europe is [...]