The Naval Service will this year make history when it tests new kite sails which will have the combined effect of providing enhanced surveillance and saving fuel.

In a week that saw the end of our international bailout and a return to the international markets, there was more good news yesterday with the announcement of a new energy research centre for Cork.

Is your house floating away on a puff of precious heat? Kya deLongchamps suggests ways to keep bills down.

The Ombudsman has welcomed a government move to bring 140 additional public bodies under the remit of her office.

COMPLAINTS from tenants about housing standards and repairs more than doubled last year, according to the annual report from housing agency Threshold.

THE green jobs initiative spearheaded by the GAA is developing momentum after a successful launch in Clonakilty six weeks ago.

NTR boss Michael McNicholas, regarded in the industry as a ‘safe pair of hands’, is busy picking up the pieces after his predecessor’s costly gamble on solar power backfired badly, helping to notch up record losses of €381m at the group, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

DINGY Skipper and Gatekeeper might sound like appealing jobs, but their primary task these days is just staying alive.

Some 2,000 new jobs are to be created as part of an expansion of the Government's retro-fitting programme.

THE current frenzy to apportion blame for our economic woes misses the point.

Householders are being urged to invest more to improve the energy efficiency in their homes.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has called for new, government-funded financial schemes to help householders make their homes more energy-efficient.

AN Irish countryside community is aiming to create the world’s first rural zero carbon district under a plan that would see it switch to totally green means of power, transport and production within 10 years.

YOU report (August 15) that the SIMI is campaigning to extend scrappage subsidies to protect the car industry.

THE news that China’s oil consumption rose by 28% last year and the admission by the International Energy Authority (IEA) that the world’s oil reserves are being depleted at 6.2% a year should be a wake-up call.

A SMALL step towards tomorrow’s world was made in Dublin yesterday when Ireland’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — juice points — went live.

SOME of the worst offenders for energy inefficiency include government offices, HSE facilities and the ESB.

AFTER coming through the coldest winter in living memory, the public will be cynical about the blatant waste of energy – and taxpayers’ money – in public buildings.

A RECENT visit to the magnificent Dingle Peninsula, on a day when there was a heavy swell in the Atlantic, illustrated yet again the sheer power of the waves that crashed into the jagged coastline.

THE 30%-plus gap between Irish and EU energy costs has narrowed dramatically in some cases, new data reveals.

A report from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) shows a significant fall in both gas and electricity prices to Irish businesses while many EU States experienced rises.

ENERGY use has increased despite Ireland’s economic slowdown, a report from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) reveals.

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 Green Party has said the swing towards buying energy efficient diesel cars confirms that “green policies do work”.

Car buying choices have moved significantly towards more energy-efficient cars since the introduction of the new Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and motor tax rates for private cars, according to data published today by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).

A HOUSE constructed to today’s regulations will be far superior to those of just 10 years ago because of higher insulation and air-tightness guidelines, along with heat extraction systems and low carbon heating.

Ireland’s small businesses could save €300m a year through simple actions to reduce energy costs, according Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).

IRISH motorists could see the country’s first electric car-charging points next year as the Government progresses its plan to make the country a pioneer in the field of electric vehicles.

Irish tidal renewable energy company OpenHydro has been awarded a grant of up to €2m under Sustainable Energy Ireland’s (SEI) Ocean Energy Prototype Research & Development Programme.

ECONOMIC recovery will begin on Saturday morning, if the Lisbon Treaty is accepted, Communications Minister Eamon Ryan claimed in a final appeal for a Yes vote.

WITH house prices in new developments plummeting, a developer in Co Cavan has gone to the ultimate. He has decided to halve the starting price of his 35-house offering in Bailieborough — to less than €100,000 for new three-bedroomed fully-finished homes.

IRISH consumers are wasting up to €35 million worth of energy annually by leaving appliances on standby when not in use.

A CLUSTER-BASED approach is the best way to identify private forest resources that are available in Ireland to supply the wood energy market, a conference was told in Kilkenny yesterday.

THE rapid expansion of the wood energy sector in Ireland will be beneficial to more than 15,000 farmers who developed a farm forest enterprise, Teagasc has predicted.

Ireland has become 10% more energy efficient since 1995 with experts ranking the country fourth best in Europe for improvements, a report revealed today.

ENERGY conscious firms are in line for multi-million euro savings following a €60 million investment from an Irish renewable energy firm.

An Irish engineering firm is to create 250 jobs after developing unique wind turbines which generate power even in a light breeze, it was revealed today.

Schools will be warmer and cheaper to heat under a new €20m energy-saving scheme, it was announced today.

BUSINESSES can reap massive savings by using a new online carbon calculator to help slash their emissions, the Government claimed yesterday.

FOLLOWING an unprecedented level of interest from the public, the €50 million home energy saving scheme — aimed at improving insulation levels and heating efficiency in homes — is now available.

ENERGY Minister Eamon Ryan has announced measures to encourage generation of electricity in homes and farms.

HOMEOWNERS will get an average 30% refund of the cost of insulation improvements to their home under a new government energy efficient grant scheme.

YET another costly case of duplication by government departments has come to light at a time when the country can ill-afford to be squandering money.

A national home insulation scheme aims to create 4,000 jobs and slash household heating bills by up to €700 a year.