Building Gated Communities

I am writing in response to the article by Leo McMahon in the Southern Star last week regarding the proposal by Dr. Anthony Calnan to erect gates at either end of Ballymodan lane in Bandon to prevent anti-social behaviour at night.
 
For those that are not aware Ballymodan Lane is located less than 200metres from the main Garda station in Bandon, a station that is the regional headquarters of the Garda Síochána and one that is manned 24hrs a day. It is also a public access to the local shopping centre and is used regularly by walkers at night.
 
To suggest that permanent gates be erected at a location in the centre of the town on a public laneway to prevent anti social behaviour is certainly not an answer to the problem in my humble opinion. Might I suggest that Garda on the beat at night might be a more appropriate response to anti-social behaviour.
 
Blocking access to a public right of way removes rights to the public and if erected at this location why not at any other? I am aware of many locations in Bandon where youths gather at night, where noise nuisance is a problem and where the disposal of beer cans and rubbish is a common sight. There are many estates with pedestrian walkways where rubbish is dumped nightly there are many main towns in Ireland where at weekend drunken youths cause public nuisance, driving at speed through urban areas, causing noise nuisance and putting in danger pedestrians and other motorists on public roads.  Is the answer to build gated access to the towns thereby preventing automobiles entering the town at night?
 
The problems with public nuisance is however multi generational. As an example, dog owners are generally of an age much older than those that congregate in lanes consuming alcohol. However they do use public laneways and gardens to walk their dogs and cause a public nuisance by allowing them to defecate on public areas or private gardens without any thought for the property owners or public health as all faeces contain bacteria. Many dog owners deliberately bring their dogs to foul public areas, pavements, parks, playgrounds and even beaches resulting in a serious health risk to the public. Is the answer to ban dogs?
 
In the past twenty years there has been a major cultural and behavioural shift in the general publics attitude to nuisance. We have allowed public nuisance to develop to the state where people are now afraid to leave their homes at night. This is what is unacceptable. The answer is not to build gates and move the problem on elsewhere but to deal with the problem as with any disease. Diagnose the problem, treat the cause.
 
If Dr. Calnan’s recommendation of a gate to be erected at Ballymodan lane is seen as an acceptable solution to anti-social behaviour perhaps the same might apply to any such location in Bandon, Skibbereen or other towns in West Cork. If this is seen as an acceptable solution one might as well return to the days of walled towns and lock down the population after dark to prevent youths from congregating or causing a nuisance.
 
The solution to anti social behaviour is not removing the rights and privileges of every citizen to free movement rather to adequately police the area and use the mechanism of the law to prevent nuisance in the first place. One might consider that adequate policing would be the first means of addressing the problem, or education on the problems of alcohol consumption or restricting the sale of alcohol to youths might be more appropriate, why not earlier closing times for nightclubs or raising the minimum age for purchasing alcohol. While I sympathise with anyone who has to deal with nuisance (myself included) what is needed is some mechanism to promote behavioural change and educate those causing the problems on social responsibility.
 
Preventing access to public thoroughfares in not an answer. It is the equivalent of amputating an arm to cure a sore finger.

Declan Waugh

Money in Politics, how to influence Government Policy

There is a feeling within the wider community that our political system has lived the high life for too long. Yet one of the greatest dangers facing our political system is the passivity of our society in demanding transparent legislative and bureaucratic  systems to serve the best interest of our community. In our attempts to restore confidence in our political system, we must start by examining how society helped create the political and economic crisis we now find ourselves in.

As a society we must examine the recent past and ask ourselves what have been the major contributors to the recent failures of our political and economic system.

For me one of the main failures has been that we as a society tolerated and still do a political system that accepts financial donations from businesses and special interest groups. This was especially prevalent during the period 1992- 2007 resulting in a system of political courtship and influence supporting unsustainable development while benefiting the interests of a few creating the social, economic and political difficulties we now face as a generation.

How did this happen and why has our political system failed our community?

If you examine the facts as presented by the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) they may help in explaining where it all went wrong and what we must do to prevent it from happening again.

First let me explain that the SIPO are an independent body established to provide a supervisory role under the Ethics in Public Office Act and the Electoral Act 1997.

The Standards in Public Office Commission recently published a list of political donations for the general election in 2007. It makes very interesting reading and is available for the public to view on their website. If you are interested in politics and who funds our public representatives I would recommend that you check out this website where details of donations received by every TD are outlined. For further information and much more view www.sipo.gov.ie

Examination of the figures show that in 2007 political candidates and our elected TD’s received over €705,000 in private donations from companies and individuals to support their election campaigns. Many Dáil deputies received the maximum allowable donation from special interest groups. A significant proportion of this came from cash donations from companies with interests in the property and the financial sector.

In the period 1997- 2007 according to figures published by SIPO over €2,225,000 was donated to political parties. This figure only includes disclosed donations by political representatives so one can only image that the true figure is substantially larger as many TD’s did in fact not disclose any political donations.

According to legislation the maximum value of donation(s) which a candidate at the Dáil general election may accept from the same person in the same calendar year is €2,539.48 yet politicians are only required to disclose donations with a value of more than €634.87.

In some cases individual TD’s received substantial election donations often exceeding the total expenditure spend in their election campaigns. Furthermore the  relevant the taxpayer reimbursed political candidates to the tune of €2,638,013 in 2007.

How does this work, well lets take one example; according to figures submitted by Christy O Sullivan TD and released by SIPO the Cork South West TD received at least €23,000 in political donations, including generous contributions from wealthy business interests, in the lead-up to last year’s general election. The former Cork County Councilor who was elected on his first attempt was one of the main beneficiaries of supporter donations in the country, according to figures  submitted by Deputy O Sullivan to the Standards in Public Office Commission. His largest contributions came from property developer Dave Dwyer, Baltimore with further large contributions from property developers, Barry Harte, Timoleague, Jim Canty, Rosscarbery, Micheal Keohane, Ballingurtee, Micheal Kirby, Clogagh, Bandon, Pat o Driscoll, Castlefreake and Cronin & Buckley Engineering, Ballincollig.

Niall and Patrica Whyte Downeen gave €2,500 as did Jim Kiely of Drimoleague and Martin O Connell, Bandon Rd, Jerry O Donovan, Dunmanway Rd contributed €2,000 while Enniskeane supermarket owner Derry O Connell donated 1000 along with Dan Twomey, Bandon who also gave €1,000.

Election expenses incurred by Christy O Sullivan again published by SIPO amounted to €17,578, as with other candidates State that means the taxpayer reimbursed him to the tune of €8,700. One must ask the question, is this a misuse of public money or should we change the system? In this example noted the candidate obtained far more in political donations from private donations to fund his campaign that what he spend on his election campaign yet he subsequently also received a large reimbursement from the state leaving him with a sum of €14,022 for his own personal use in addition to his generous salary and expense allowance as an elected Dail deputy.

Information published by SIPO also informs us that Minister Willie O Dea declared €2,500 in donations while Deputy Tom Kitt received €17,750, Deputy Sean Haughey received €3,450, Deputy Martin Cullen €18,585 and Deputy Beverly Cooper Flynn received €12,000. Minister’s Noel Dempsey received €19,763, Micheal Martin €22,135, Conor Lelihan received €6,650, Batt O Keefe received €11,000, Former Taoiseagh Bertie Ahern received €19,000, Taoiseach Brain Cohen received €2,458 and Minister Mary Coughlan received €1,000.

It was Deputy O Sullivan however within Fianna Fáil, that gained most from political donations in County Cork last year with his election fund swelled by a minimum of €22,900 courtesy of generous supporters.

Fine Gael also benefited by receiving donations from special interest groups with deputy Jim O Keefe received €2,500 from Havenview Investments, €2,500 from Spencer Dock Development and €2,500 from Treasury Holdings. Party colleague Deputy Simon Coveney received twelve donations totalling to €23,200, while the labour party Ruari Quinn received €13,640, Pat Rabbit €4,500 and Eamon Gilmore €3,500. Green Party leader and Minister John Gormley received €4,500, Minister Eamon Ryan received €4,000 and Trevor Sargent received €1,200 donations principle received from green party members.

Sinn Fein Deputy Martin Ferris declared €8,650 in political donations while his two party colleague Caoimhghin O Caolain and Aengus O Snodaigh did not declare any donations along with independent TD Michael Lowry, Minister for Health and former Progressive Democrat Mary Harney and Deputy Liz MacManus of Labour.

Meanwhile Independent Kerry TD. Jackie Healy-Rae received €24,900 in donations.

Twenty five Fianna Fáil deputies did not declare any political donations to the Standards in Public Office Commission including Deputies Mary O Rourke, Dick Roche, Dermot Ahern, Frank Fahy and John O’Donoghue. Meanwhile twenty three FG deputies did not declare any political donations including Party Leader Enda Kenny, Deputies Phil Hogan, Brian Hayes and P.J Sheehan.

An examination of the disclosed donations to political candidates and parties clearly shows us that special interest groups have befriended politicians handing over millions of euros in cash to the main political parties. So why is this relevant to us? if a business makes a large financial donation to a politician, does this represent a conflict of interest can it influence the ability of that individual or party to make decisions?

So when we reflect on our political system, what legislation it enacts, who it benefits, who is appointed to bodies by political parties and ultimately how we have got to where we are now, it must be obvious that we the public must demand legislation to prevent political influence from special business interest groups. This must start with stricter regulations on lobbying and political donations something that Green Party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley has pledged to do. 

Declan Waugh

€500million investment package in the Irish electricity sector – EIB

The European Investment Bank is to lend up to EUR 500m to help Ireland secure and green its electricity supplies and support Europe’s economic recovery. Two loan contracts to that effect were signed today in Dublin by EIB Vice President Plutarchos Sakellaris and the chief executives of EirGrid Plc and Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in the presence of Irish Energy Minister Eamon Ryan. 

• EUR 300 million for the Ireland Wales electricity Interconnector; first EIB loan for EU recovery plan energy project 
• EUR 200 million for wind farms; first EIB loan for renewable energy in Ireland 

EIB will lend EirGrid up to EUR 300m towards construction of a 256 km cable between Ireland and Wales. The East-West Interconnector (EWIC) will underpin the development of renewable energy by enabling the import and export of excess wind power, It will improve security of supply and facilitate competition through connecting the Irish electricity market with the rest of Europe.

ESB will receive up to EUR 200m in loans to develop its renewable energy business by installing 248MW of wind power capacity by 2012 in various locations. The total cost of the investment programme is estimated at EUR 475m.

The loans bring total EIB support for Ireland in 2009 to EUR 850m, almost double 2008’s total of EUR 450m.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan said: “I warmly welcome this investment by the EIB in Ireland’s energy future. We are transforming energy policy in Ireland and today’s investment will propel this transformation. I congratulate both EirGrid and ESB and know they are ambitious semi-state companies who deliver on their commitments. I look forward to the completion of these projects. We are well on the road to Ireland becoming world leader in green energy and the fight against climate change.”

“Ireland is very dependent on imported fossil fuels but has huge potential for wind power. Both these projects help Ireland in its ambition to go green and secure future energy supplies, helping Europe as a whole meet its climate change goals,” said EIB Vice President Plutarchos Sakellaris.

“The EIB is particularly happy to be able to support EirGrid and the interconnector, which was identified as key project in the European Economic Recovery Plan endorsed by EU leaders last year. The ESB loan is also our first to the renewables sector in Ireland, where we hope there will be many more opportunities for cooperation in the future,” he said.

ESB Chief Executive Officer Padraig McManus said: “ESB is engaged in major investment in renewable energy to realise its ambition of becoming carbon-neutral by 2035. We are expanding our wind portfolio to 600 MW by 2012. By 2020, one-third of ESB’s generation will be wind-based. Today’s announcement is part of that strategy.”

EirGrid Chief Executive Dermot Byrne said: “Today is a major milestone for Ireland’s electricity infrastructure and for our power market, with the signing of this very important tranche of funding for the East West Interconnector project. When completed, the interconnector will help ensure secure electricity supplies for consumers, it will promote competition and will enable power to be efficiently transferred between Ireland and Britain, providing Irish wind producers with access to export markets.”

The European Economic Recovery Plan, approved by the European Parliament and EU ministers in July, proposes spending EUR 4 bn in 2009 and 2010 on key energy projects to help counter the effects of the financial crisis on the real economy. It allocates EUR 110 m for the Ireland-UK interconnector.

The total cost of EirGrid’s project is estimated at EUR 601 mn. Engineering group ABB has been awarded the contract to design, manufacture and install the interconnector. EirGrid expects the project will result in approximately 100 jobs in Ireland and 100 jobs in Wales during the construction phase. The project is due for completion in 2012.

Ireland currently meets 95 percent of its energy needs through imported fossil fuels. The Government has an ambitious strategy to meet 40 percent of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020. EIB staff will attend the Irish Wind Energy Association’s autumn conference on Thursday to learn more about future wind power projects in the country.

Background information:
The European Investment Bank is the bank of the European Union. It was set up under the 1957 Treaty of Rome with a mandate to support EU policies. It has six priority areas for its lending: poorer regions, the environment, transport and energy networks, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), innovation and research, and secure and sustainable energy supplies. In 2008 it signed loans for EUR 57.6 bn, of which EUR 51.5 bn was for projects within the EU’s 27 member states. To help cushion the impact of the economic and financial crisis the Bank has raised its EU lending target for 2009 to EUR 70 bn. For more information see: www.eib.org.

EirGrid plc is a leading Irish energy business, dedicated to the provision of transmission and market services for the benefit of electricity consumers. It is a state-owned commercial company. EirGrid holds licences as independent electricity Transmission System Operator (TSO) and Market Operator (MO) in the wholesale trading system in Ireland, and is the owner of the System Operator Northern Ireland (SONI Ltd), the licenced TSO and market operator in Northern Ireland. The Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) is part of the EirGrid Group. For more information see www.eirgrid.com.

ESB is the state owned electricity company of Ireland. It is a vertically integrated utility, providing electricity generation, distribution and electricity supply with an annual turnover of EUR 3.5 bn and activities in 100 countries. ESB is currently implementing a multi-billion euro capital investment programme to make the company carbon-neutral by 2035. Half this investment is directed at promoting renewable energy generation. The plan also involves major investment in its electricity networks infrastructure to facilitate greater renewable energy on the system, the development of a recharging network for electric vehicles and the implementation of a smart metering project. For more information see: www.esb.ie

How The Lisbon Treaty Might Help Save The World

Since I graduated from college almost twenty years ago I have believed that the European Union offered the only realistic political choice for attempting to address issues of sustainability, for ensuring humanitarian and social justice and, in more recent years, for dealing with what is the greatest challenge facing humanity tacking: climate change.

As an environmental scientist I largely owe my career to the EU for its role in forcing Ireland as a member state to introduce environmental legislation. Without the EU bringing into force various directives on environment, employment, waste management, water resources, soil protection, air quality, renewable energy, biodiversity protection etc.; it can be generally assumed that Ireland would never have bothered and the country would truly be a third world country.

Do you really think, given the qualifications of most elected Dail representatives, that they would be capable of governing this state without guidance from the EU? Given the performance over the past twenty years, I think not. If it were not for the EU mandate of protecting citizens rights and continuously introducing new legal directives that require implementation by member states, Ireland would not now have such regulations that protect its citizens.

Nevertheless, we are now in the 21^st century and entering a new kind of era that no other generation has faced before. Over the summer I read the excellent book D-Day by military historian, Anthony Beevor. For our generation, it is almost impossible to understand how in the course of some three months in Normandy alone some 400,000 soldiers were killed or seriously wounded fighting for peace in this part of Europe while some 35,000 innocent French civilians were killed in the battle. Over the last century the challenge facing people was Fascism or Stalinism, today the challenge is climate change and sustainable development. While World War II may have claimed the lives of some 70 million people, this figure pales into insignificance when we consider the implications of climate change worldwide.

Wars have always been about resources but this century we have a resource problem of gigantic proportions. With some 7 billion people now living on this planet, how is humanity going to deal with dwindling resources for an ever-increasing world population. In the 21^st century, how are we going to try and manage our resources and address the critical issues of sustainability? How will we deal with energy, food security, the threat of war, terrorism and the humanitarian and climate change crises? I believe that only through the EU can we hope to address these enormous challenges and the first step is to empower the European commission with new legal powers and responsibilities. If we do not, the system will fail; a system that has brought peace and prosperity to Europe for over half a century.

So how will the treaty of Lisbon protect us?  I will give you some examples quoting text from the treaty.

On sustainable development, protection of human rights and cultural heritage, Article 2 of the Treaty states: “the European Union shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance. It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child.

It shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.”

On supporting developing countries, Article 10a states the European union shall “foster the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty; assist populations, countries and regions confronting natural or man-made disasters”

On aspects of common security and defence policy Article 17 states: “The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on civilian and military assets. The Union may use them on missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.”

In developing competences within member states, something that again appears critical to the administration of Ireland’s public sector, Article 2a states: the Union shall “share competence with the Member states in Environment, consumer protection, transport, trans-European networks, energy, area of freedom, security and justice”

On protection of human health Article 2 E states:“the Union shall have competence to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States. The areas of such action shall, at European level, be: protection and improvement of human health, industry, culture, tourism, education, vocational training, youth and sport, civil protection and administrative cooperation.’

 On discrimination Article 5b states: “In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall aim to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.”

On immigration Article 63a states: “The Union shall develop a common immigration policy aimed at ensuring, at all stages, the efficient management of migration flows, fair treatment of third-country nationals residing legally in Member States, and the prevention of, and enhanced measures to combat, illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings; in particular women and children”.

On economic and monetary policy, something that is critical to Ireland in its current financial crisis, Article 104 states:  ‘Where the Council decides that an excessive deficit exists, it shall adopt, without undue delay, on a recommendation from the Commission, recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned with a view to bringing that situation to an end within a given period.’

On public health, Article 152 states: “It shall in particular encourage cooperation between the Member States to improve the complementarity of their health services in cross-border areas”

 On the environment and climate change Article 174 states: “ it shall promote measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change.”

On energy Article 176 A states: “In the context of the establishment and functioning of the internal market and with regard for the need to preserve and improve the environment, Union policy on energy shall aim, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, to: ensure the functioning of the energy market; ensure security of energy supply in the Union; and promote energy efficiency and energy saving and the development of new and renewable forms of energy; and promote the interconnection of energy networks”.

On administrative cooperation within the European Union Article 176 D states: “the effective implementation of Union law by the Member States, which is essential for the proper functioning of the Union, shall be regarded as a matter of common interest and the Union may support the efforts of Member States to improve their administrative capacity to implement Union law. Such action may include facilitating the exchange of information and of civil servants as well as supporting training schemes.”

On development cooperation Article 188 D states: “Union development cooperation policy shall have as its primary objective the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of poverty”

The treaty also addresses  economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries. Article 188 I states: “When the situation in a third country requires urgent financial assistance from the Union, the Council shall adopt the necessary decisions on a proposal from the Commission.”

The treaty has a solidarity clause in Article 188 R stating that: “The Union and its Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. The Union shall mobilize all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States, to: prevent the terrorist threat in the territory of the Member States; protect democratic institutions and the civilian population from any terrorist attack; assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a terrorist attack; assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.

And finally if we don’t like it or wish to withdraw from the European Union Article 49a of the Treaty states that: “Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.”

As with any complicated legal document there may be issues that some people may not agree with but for me this Treaty provides a glimmer of hope for the future; it shows us that the European Union is making decisions not based on the next general election but for the welfare and protection of the next generation of citizens. 

Restoring confidence in our political, financial and legal sector.

Every commentator appears to agree that until the banks and the financial systems are cleaned up our economy will not recover. As taxpayers and citizens of this country we have to ask, how did we get here? Who was responsible for regulation of the banking sector in Ireland? Who were the banking executives that so mismanaged our economy? Who are the principle debtors to the banks? What are their assets? Will anyone be convicted for economic and financial crimes in this country?  Finally, how effective are the measures being taken by our Government to protect the welfare of its citizens in dealing with this crisis?

Last week I read with grudging admiration in the Wall Street Journal of how one country, ranked 44th in the world according to GDP (compared to Ireland’s position at 34th), is responding to their own banking crisis; it made fascinating reading. While the similarities with Ireland were noticable; a small powerful business elite accustomed to a lifestyle of excess and businesses fuelled by unchecked credit lines etc., their response to the crisis was remarkable.

As with Ireland their credit ran out, the financial markets were no longer sustainable. The country in question had to inject $2.6 billion (€1.8 billion) to bailout the countries top five bank’s, which had accumulated $7.6 billion in bad debts threatening the survival of this continent’s second biggest economy.

Earlier in March this year, the Economist noted of this same country that the banks were at risk because they were dangerously exposed to the stockmarket slump after rashly securing a large portion of their loans with now almost worthless equities. Does this sounds familiar?

So how is this country attempting to restore confidence in its financial sector you may ask? Their central bank last week made the unprecedented move of publishing a list of the top debtors to the banks, among them some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in that country.

Last Wednesday, their Government’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that the debtors had one week to repay their loans or risk arrest and seizure of their assets.

The list included the countries only two billionaires, two previous heads of the country’s stock exchange, several companies, two state governments, the former governor of the richest state and the ministry of finance.

After injecting $2.6 billion into the country’s top five banks, the central bank fired the top executives of these banks, executives from four of the five banks have been questioned by the economic and financial crimes commission and the country’s top anti-corruption unit and bank managers at five banks have been put on a watch list to prevent them from leaving the country.

Not only that but the head of the EFCC stated “that debtors have one week to bring in their checks or drafts to us or we begin their arrest and prosecution as well as confiscation of their assets because they are people of enormous means”.

Now that’s taking action!  So where is this country.  It’s Nigeria.

Here in Ireland the Government have injected over €10 billion to bailout the banks that we are now told have accumulated €90 billion in bad debts. That’s more than ten times the level of bad debt compared to Nigeria, a country with a population of approximately 160 million people.

The people who got us into this position have committed an economic crime of unprecedented scale against the citizens of this nation robbing us of future economic stability while ensuring that our taxes, which should be being used for essential services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure and building a sustainable economy; are used to bail out a corrupt and irresponsible banking sector.  In my view, we can learn a lot in this instance from Nigeria. 

If our political establishment abdicate on not bringing those responsible to justice and if those individuals and institutions whose actions have been shown to be criminally negligent remain unpunished, one cannot have any faith in our political, financial or legal sector.  The stark reality is that this culpability starts with our former Minister for Finance, now our Taoiseach.

As for NAMA, it poses a big dilemma; the start reality is if the Green Party support the legislation in its current format without protecting the rights and interests of the public, if no one is held accountable, if those who were responsible for this crisis are rewarded or compensated for their actions; the Green Party will have lost all moral authority. In the interim the party may remain in power but it will lose its grassroots support and signal the end of the Green Party. Never before has such a small political party had such responsibility.  For how long can the Green Party support the weight of mistakes by past Governments, mistakes that over the past twenty years the electorate in many respects demanded by voting for them. 

In the end it would be a greater travesty if the one political party that opposed the politics of bribery, corruption and cronyism are the sacrificial lamb that bleeds to death to save our political establishment.

Suggestions for Review of programme for Government

1. Changes to Planning legislation
To support the development of a lower carbon economy in addition to a Climate Change Bill being passed by Government changes in the  Planning and Development Regulations, the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, the EPA Act, Waste management Act and Licensing Regulations must be sought to include the following:

When considering the environmental implications of a proposed development a carbon impact assessment must be examined in the context of the overall environmental impact assessment.

Current regulations require developers to examine in addition to the current regulations i.e. the ecological, landscape, archaeological, human environment, noise, amenity, traffic emissions etc associated with a proposed development during construction and post construction.  Regulations must be revised to include a specific criteria for carbon management and emissions. Without such changes to regulations that will allow for calculating the future pollution emissions for development one cannot clearly demonstrate how as a nation we are managing our carbon emissions.

2. Establish a statutory carbon task force, that will manage administer and support the major transition that is required to evolve Ireland into a low carbon economy.

3. To support Government policy both the Renewable Energy Action Group and the proposed Carbon Management Action Group must become stationary consul tees on major planning and development projects.

4. Revise travel allowance arrange for public sector. Remove incentives for use of private transportation. Provide public sector employees with public sector travel passes. We must encourage behavioural change on a massive scale similar to the smoking legislation and plastic bag levy. All public sector employees given subsidised photo ID travel passes for rail and bus available Monday to Friday.

All Irish rail and bus eirann staff have this arrangement presently.

Arrange for family members of rail, bus Eireann and Aer Lingus to avail of free transport to cease.

5. To support Government policy on sustainable use of energy and resources leasing of temporary long term accommodation of prefabs for Department of Education must cease. Long term leasing of energy inefficient and poorly constructed buildings must cease. Moneys spend on leasing could cover costs of repayments for construction of buildings over time. This would also support local jobs and construction industry across country. I.e Gael Schoil Clonakilty department of Education have paid approx 300,000mper annum for the past ten years for leasing of prefabs. The school has almost 300 pupils and is entirely made up of prefabricated buildings. Environment is totally unacceptable for education of children and would not be acceptable for other public sector employees or private sector.

6. A minimum transaction fee for pensioners availing of rail transport should be introduced. The current policy of free transportation must reflect the current financial circumstances in which we now find ourselves. Customers availing of free rail transport should be required to pay a minimum transaction fee for ticket. I would recommend a fee of €5 euro.

7. A minimum transaction fee should apply to medical card holders for availing of prescriptions form GP. This would encourage a more sustainable use of prescribed medication.

8. Music copyright licences such as IMRO should be calculated based on floor area of business or turnover. Small and medium business should not be paying the same rate as large multinationals or supermarkets. To my understanding the fee is standard for businesses based on number of premises therefore small commercial premises pay the same fee per premises as large commercial operators. For small business struggling to survive this fee should be waved as public broadcaster already pays the licensing fee to play the music.

9. Revise Plastic bag levy payment procedures. Small businesses are now being charged a flat fee per annum for having stock of plastic bags for customers. The fee is now not based on amount of bags sold to customers. I am aware of one small business that were invoiced in excess of €3000 per annum for plastic bags. This would equate to 20,000 bags at 0.15cent per bag. The business has records to show that they do not use this volume of bags but it appears that a flat fee is charged to reduce administration costs by exchequer. For small businesses such a upfront fee is excessive. Improve the system to assist small businesses.

10. Social welfare payments should include a provision for active community service. Where recipients are available for work they should be required to undertake a minimum 2 day programme of community service linked to their experience abilities and interests, they could be utilised as tourism stewards, work on environmental clean up programmes, undertake community work such as tidy towns, work with health services, in education or sports. As a society we must develop a greater sense of citizen responsibility and participation in our community. The current social welfare model does not and will not meet the demands of the 21st century. The citizens current behavioural sense of entitlement to services without participation in community must change or our society will collapse under the financial strain.

11. Revise current expenses and allowances for all Oireachtas members. Removal all travel allowance for use of private car and travel expenses to houses of oireachtas. All representatives should be given travel permits to avail of rail and bus services. I know of members that travel by rail to Dublin and claim road mileage allowances. In the private sector this would be deemed a serious breach of conduct and would result in an employee being sanctioned or disciplined. This proposal would be very supported by the public and would show that public representatives are supporting government policy of supporting public transport, supporting sustainable travel and reducing individual carbon emissions.

12. Remove supplementary allowances for Oireachtas members sitting on committees. No additional payments should be given for undertaking this work, this is what they are elected for.

13. Increase tax on alcohol purchased in off licenses. Reduce tax on alcohol purchased in Public houses. The public house  plays an enormous part in the heritage and active community in Ireland supporting tourism, recreation and community enterprise. The public house is an national institution without which tourism and local communities cannot thrive. Financial support should be given to public houses that include a programme of music throughout the year. This could be used to assist the development of singing clubs and traditional music. We must change the recent behavioural  attitude to increased consumption of alcohol in the home and support owners of public houses in rural (outside the cities) ireland before the heart and spirit of the communities across rural Ireland are closed for good.

14. Revise and re-introduce grocery orders bill. As with the energy regulator department store operators working across the border and within the island of ireland must be required to sell goods within the island at comparable prices subject to variation in currencies. The price of basic goods should be set quarterly and revised based on currency evaluation with sterling. Trade licences should be removed where operators are seen to overcharge consumers.

15. Department of trade and enterprise and office of consumer affairs must examine price for fuel at petrol stations where obvious cartels exist on fixing prices. Operators must not be allowed to charge above the odds for fuel. In some rural locations the consumer has no protection and is lacking competition to ensure goods can be purchased at reasonable price. Ie. Price per litre of petrol in bandon co. cork 116c/l over 4c per litre more expensive than towns further away from fuel distributors such as skibbereen. Cartel exists with ownership of fuel stations and they fix the price.

16. All coastal towns and estuarine locations (i.e courtmacsherry bay, clonakilty bay areas) providing tourism services and with environmental designations must have have adequate sewage treatment facilities, recycling services and public transportation facilities.

17. Public services such as Universities, collages, local authorities and hospitals must adapt budgets to ensure that more than 50% of expenditure is paid on provision of services and not payroll costs.

18. End subsidisation of Private healthcare.

19. Increase renewable energy tariffs for producers of renewable energy to support development of green economy.

20. Reduce salaries of Oireachtas members to reflect current and international trends.

21. Cap the level of overtime payment in public sector. Review employment contracts to ensure that essential services are not curtailed. Increase annual payment for certain sectors and remove overtime allowance completely. In private sector senior or middle management are required to work overtime on occasions, this is unpaid and part of job requirement. (the town of dunmanway recently had no public water supply for 24hrs one Sunday because the pump station was down and the local engineer would not attend to the problem as they were not being paid overtime, the consequence was that a town of over 2000 people had no water supply on a weekend. Such incidences are totally unacceptable. The roles and responsibilities for managers must reflect public service requirements above all else.

22. All state bodies, semi state bodies, banking financial institutions and large commercial traders must have a board member with appropriate environmental training or credentials to support sustainable development initiatives.

23.  End National programme for fluoridation of public water supplies. Dental health care should be the responsibility of the individual rather than a solution imposed e masse. Most EU countries do not allow. I believe there is widespread support for this proposal and international evidence to show that fluoridation of public water supplies is no longer acceptable.

Government Support for FAS courses in Green Technology

Good news on the green economy front. The Government has announced a range of Fás courses aimed at retraining thousands of construction workers in the installation of green technologies in homes and businesses across the country.

The Government, and in particular Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan, has been keen to promote the national roll-out of ‘clean-tech and green’ energy process.  The courses announced by Enterprise Minister and Tánaiste Mary Coughlan will enable workers to convert and upgrade their skills to allow them to install the technology as well as carrying out compliance and energy rating assessments.

There will be five course types available:

* Gas safety and installation courses.

* Sustainable energy courses for plumbers, electricians, fitters and other qualified construction workers to design, install and commission domestic solar hot water heating, bio-mass and heat-pump systems.

* Building energy rating courses for suitably qualified participants to produce building energy rating assessor (BER) labels and advisory reports for new and existing dwellings.

* Smart/intelligent building systems to provide qualified electricians or suitably qualified applicants with skills to install, configure and test an intelligent building control system using KNX/EIB technology.

* Insulation technologies and techniques for general construction tradesmen in insulation materials, techniques and technologies, and provides plasterers with external wall rendering techniques for existing and new buildings.

Two more courses are planned for later this year looking at micro-electricity generation through wind turbine energy and also at ‘passive’ house building.  

Floods, fires seen testing EU climate response

Flash floods, wildfires and heatwaves brought on by climate change could test Europe's ability to insure against and respond to natural disasters, a new report warns.

Flooding of the Nile Delta and further desertification of north Africa could also unleash a wave of migrants from Europe's southern neighbors, said delegates at the launch of the European Union-backed ADAM report. The European Union last year agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions by roughly a fifth by 2020 and is now preparing for talks in December on a global deal.

The 27-country EU hopes to prevent global temperatures rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, but is also having to prepare for the repercussions of missing the target. "Even if we aim for 2 degrees, the uncertainty in the climate system means significant risks of rises of 3 degrees or above," said the ADAM project's coordinator, Mike Hulme. The report warned that flood risk in many eastern European states has exceeded 1 percent of gross domestic product.

"In some events, national authorities have had severe fiscal problems in financing the recovery process," it said. Even wealthier nations can struggle to cope with the huge cost, the report added, citing 2002 floods in Austria that led to a fiscal crisis that ultimately triggered new elections and a change in the balance of power.

The report warns of a 15 percent risk that Europe's disaster compensation scheme -- the EU Solidarity Fund -- could become overwhelmed with claims above its annual resources of 1 billion euros ($1.35 billion). To counter that danger, the scheme could be altered to become a source of reinsurance or capital for national disaster insurance schemes, it recommended.

SOLIDARITY FUND

"What this report shows is that we had better get prepared by taking the political decisions, such as making sure the solidarity fund can provide help in the dimensions needed," said ADAM project manager Henry Neufeldt.

Around 44 percent of calls on the solidarity fund are for floods and 27 percent for wildfires, he added. The fund has not previously covered drought damage. Neufeldt said climate change would raise the risks of wildfires in the Mediterranean region -- especially in southeastern countries such as Albania and Croatia -- but good forest management could keep risks in check. Other issues highlighted by the report include rising wages and return on capital in cities such as Madrid at the heart of drought-risk zones, and soaring power consumption in southern Europe for air-conditioning.  Speaking at the launch of the report, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice chairman of the United Nations climate panel, warned that failure to act could ultimately lead to sea level rises of several meters, displacing millions from low-lying islands and deltas.

"The Nile delta is the closest to Europe, and that's an area where 10 million people -- equal to the population of Belgium -- are living, cultivating and working at less than a meter above sea level," Ypersele said. "The pressure from sea level rise on this population will most likely induce a combination of relocation within the country, and migration out of it," he added.

Source: Reuters

Lecture series Building a Green Economy with former UNEP Director and Ambassador to Arendal, Norway

Mr. Svein Tveitdal, former Director at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Environmental Ambassador to the city of Arendal, Norway, was the guest speaker at a series of lectures organised by Declan Waugh of Partnership For Change (PFC) in association with Cork City Council and West Cork Development Partnership (WCDP).

A large audience attended a midday lecture hosted by PFC and WCDP in the Quality Hotel, Clonakilty on the 18^th May last. The lecture was titled "How to build a Green Economy" and was followed by a questions and answers session.

The audience was drawn from a wide sector of West Cork, representing small businesses, food producers, Sustainability Clonakilty, Transition town Kinsale, public representatives from both Town Councils and Cork County Council and members of the general public.

Mayor of Clonakilty Cllr. Michael O'Regan opened the proceeding followed by The Lord Mayor of Cork County Cllr Noel Harrington. Both Town and County Mayors welcomed Minister of State, Trevor Sargent T.D. and Mr. Svein Tveitdal to Clonakilty and noted the remarkable work and initiatives undertaken by the local community in Sustainabilty Clonakilty.

Minister of State, Trevor Sargent T.D., spoke of the importance and urgency of tackling climate change and of our over-reliance on fossil fuels.   He outlined how we must develop a low-carbon economy to ensure our economic security and to protect the environment for future generations.  He spoke of the community leadership shown by Sustainability Clonakilty and Partnership for Change (PFC) and thanked Declan Waugh for organising the series of lectures.

Mr. Ivan McCutcheon of West Cork Development Partnership (WSDP) discussed how climate change and developing a low-carbon economy is a necessity for Ireland  and noted in particular that policy changes will be required to invest in food security and to support the development of horticulture. Ivan said that these were issues of concern to WCDP and congratulated Declan Waugh for his commitment and leadership in raising awareness on climate change and support the development of a low carbon economy with his work with PFC.

The seminar began with a short presentation by Declan Waugh, Environmental Scientist and Chairman of Partnership for Change. Declan began by discussing the extreme weather events of August 2008, detailing the economic cost of the flash floods to the insurance industry and to agriculture. Declan presented recent scientific data on climate change from NASA and explained how climate change will impact on food production, biodiversity and population distribution in the 21st century. Declan said  “we need to think through climate change; rather than about climate change” He discussed the urgency for leadership, policy foresight, political commitment, investment in innovation, communities and energy security to ensure our economic and physical wellbeing for the current and future generations”.

Declan noted that over the past six months following on from the Partnership for Change Climate Change conference organized in Nov last, he had been working hard with colleagues on a very exciting proposal to facilitate the participation of Cork County and City in joining the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network (CNN). Mr. Svein Tveitdal was invited to come to Ireland to discuss this initiative and outline how other communities were benefiting from participation.

The CN NET initiative was established by UNEP last year to assist towns, cities, companies and nation states interested in developing a low-carbon economy. A number of governments around the world have now declared their aim to become climate neutral in the next decades through renewables, carbon taxes, energy efficiency, carbon offsetting and more. How this was achieved and undertaken was the focus of Mr. Svein Tveitdal’s presentation.

Mr. Tveitdal noted how Cities from Europe to Asia and North America are coming on board with strategies including clean transport, carbon neutral buildings and awareness raising campaigns.  He included examples of companies that are taking steps to reduce their energy consumption and become more sustainable, from banks to energy producers and construction firms. He provided invaluable insight into how other countries, cities, businesses and corporations are developing green economies and responding to the climate change challenge by embracing a low carbon future and joining the UNEP Climate Neutral Network.

Mr. Tveitdal explained how UNEP’s climate neutral network brings together this growing community. As participants join, it serves as a platform for networking and the sharing of best practice, catalyzing progress towards a low carbon society. As it grows, the network is acquiring ever greater interactivity, with the participation of intergovernmental bodies, community groups, NGOs, climate neutral events and even citizens and households. Mr. Tveitdal said it was heartening to see such a large crowd in attendance and this offered inspiration and hope to the community. “I am an optimist” he said, “I believe that we have the ability to limit the impact of climate change with innovation and technology. However it also requires strong political and business leadership and investment in renewable energy”.

Mr. Sveidtal expressed his hope that as a result of both the morning briefing in Cork City with Cork City Council, attended by the County Manager, leading academics at UCC, CIT and senior executives of small and large companies, and the community event in Clonakilty, progress would be made with Cork County and City joining the UNEP CNN programme.  He said he looked forward to working with us to achieve a low-carbon economy. In conclusion, he observed “that countries that act first will be the political and economic winners; acting with foresight developing low-carbon economies for the benefit of future generations and providing examples of sustainability for others.”

Both lectures were recorded for video by Cork Environmental Forum and will be available shortly on the Partnership For Change website (www.partnershipforchange.ie) for the public to view for free.

Famine Commemoration Skibbereen

The famine commemoration week in Skibbereen was a wonderful occasion, the week was packed full with speakers, theatre, walks and events to commemorate the great famine of 150yrs ago. 

I gave two presentations, one to kids ages 9-14 from two schools in Skibbereen and another to adults on the Saturday. Both as you can imagine were totally different and required completely different communication skills. I was told first hand and second hand from people that it was excellent so I am delighted. 

The talk to the kids involved open interaction with the audience, animated cartoons and slides with questions and answers to involve the kids in the process. 

The presentation on the Saturday was to a full house. Some dignitaries were there, I noticed Lord David Puttnam and Mr. David Stanton of Unicef and I believe the Ambassador to Malaysia. 

I opened the presentation by mentioning that my great grandfather came from Cappabeg and my great grandmother from Lough Hyne; how thankfully they survived the famine for otherwise I wouldn't be here to give the presentation in the first place.

At the official state commemoration today, Sunday, it was great to have people come up to me to say that they thought the presentation was fantastic and wish me well in the local elections.

 It was also encouraging to have people approach me to say they would be definitely giving me their number one vote.

Nice to hear that especially as I wasn't canvassing, unlike other politicians present on the day, who used the occasion to canvas for votes which in my view was totally inappropriate at a solemn state occasion.

Thats all for now. Big day tomorrow, former Director of UNEP coming to Cork to give two presentations in Cork City and Clonakilty. Early start.

Human waste used to create green fuel

A Canadian company is creating an alternative green fuel from a new source of energy that was under our noses all along - human sewage. Scientists at biofuel group Dynamotive say the oil produced from human waste can be used instead of fossil fuels to generate heat and power in diesel engines and boilers. They have successfully carried out the transformation on a pilot scale and are looking at ways to scale up the process to commercial quantities.

Andrew Kingston, president and chief executive officer of Dynamotive, said: "There are no process issues at this point to stop us using human sewage sludge. If we can supply the oil then people will use it." In February 2005 the company opened a commercial-scale plant in Ontario that produces 22,000 tonnes of bio-oil each year from waste wood chips and sells it to local industries.

Mr Kingston said more than 100 types of biological waste could be used as feedstock. The company has already commercialised oil production using wood separated from construction waste and coffee bean shells. "We're now looking at dirtier wastes like chicken litter, cow manure and household garbage," he said. The wastes are flash-heated at 400-500C in the absence of oxygen, a technique called pyrolysis, and the resulting carbon-heavy gases condensed into a dark

brown, dense oil. Other hot gases are recycled to help heat the process, which makes it about 80% efficient.

Such biofuels are considered environmentally benign because the carbon produced when the fuel is burnt was absorbed from the atmosphere by the plants or trees used to make it. The fuels are usually produced through the fermentation

of crops or by squeezing oil from seeds.

Source: David Adam The Guardian

Turning waste into new Irish jobs

Minister for Environment launches new Market Development Plan to create jobs from waste currently exported
Mr John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government today launched an innovative €13 million Market Development Programme to develop new markets and help create new Irish jobs by transforming waste into new sustainable products. Targeting entrepreneurs, third level institutions, manufacturers and waste organisations, over the next five years, the Market Development Programme will identify and help develop markets for a variety of waste streams including plastics, paper, metals, organics, glass and wood.   Entrepreneurs interested in creating new businesses  from waste can get further information at www.mdg.ie <http://www.mdg.ie/> .

“Waste that we export often reappears back in Ireland, rejuvenated as valuable commodities that we all buy, like juice or milk cartons, fleece tops or the latest backpack schoolbag.  We need to develop markets for these materials and add value here at home and that’s what the Market Development Programme is all about - it will be a catalyst for innovation”, said Minister John Gormley.   “It will establish partnerships and create linkages between those who produce goods and those who manage waste. It has great potential to generate new green jobs, it will add value to the materials in Ireland and create more revenue for our economy.”

Ireland exports 1.5 million tonnes of recyclable waste a year.  That’s close to 76% of total recyclable waste generated here. It’s waste that could be reprocessed here at home.  The Market Development Programme will shortly publish a Tender seeking people to conduct demonstration trials using compost in agriculture.

This will be of interest to the farming sector and compost producers.  A second tender to quantify the amount of plastic waste in the country will determine for the first time, the volumes, locations, types and current outlets for a variety of plastics generated in Ireland.  The results will be of particular interest to entrepreneurs wishing to add value to waste plastics.  Further tenders will follow. The Market Development Programme will work with academic colleges and institutions to help ensure that their Research and Development projects address topics of interest to entrepreneurs.  It will also work with scientific bodies and representative bodies like IBEC to ensure the needs of industry are given priority.

The Market Development Programme will develop a database of all recycled products in Ireland so that for the first time, there will be a comprehensive listing of all the products made from recycled materials in Ireland available for people to refer to when choosing to buy new products.  A comprehensive database of reprocessors - people who reprocess waste materials adding value to them - will also be published in the coming weeks at www.mdg.ie <http://www.mdg.ie/> and will be of great value to people who are collecting waste materials and looking for outlets to sell them to as
well as people who are seeking to buy reprocessed waste materials.    

The Programme will also develop green procurement programmes to encourage businesses and the public sector to consider buying products derived from recycled materials.  The Market Development Programme is focusing particular attention on plastic, paper and organic waste.  This is all waste we are required to divert from landfill and this diversion offers opportunities for new businesses.  

“With the recent fall in demand for raw waste internationally and rising unemployment at home, now is the right time to find new ways to re-process and add value to our waste, here at home, reducing our dependency on foreign markets,” says Margaret Daly, environmental consultant and chairperson of the Market Development Group Brian Buckley, Director of Greyhound Recycling and Recovery views recyclables as a valuable commodity and not as a waste. “We have identified reprocessing of recyclables and adding value to these recoverable resources in Ireland as a key business opportunity”, he says. “The recyclables market collapse in recent months has also demonstrated the need for high quality recyclables in order to maintain export markets and for greater indigenous reprocessing capacity to obviate any market declines. Developing markets demand significant efforts for a company and additional support as offered through the Market Development Programme will be a welcome initiative to all business sectors interested in operating in the area of resource
recovery.”

Fred McDarby, Manager of Environment and Green Technologies, Enterprise Ireland says the Market Development Programme is a timely initiative, given its emphasis on exploring new market opportunities. “Critical to its success will be its focus on quality and standards”, he says: “This drive for excellence, combined with the ongoing demonstration of the potential of recyclable materials, should create confidence in this market and open doors for Irish businesses, in particular for the SME sector. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to supporting this Programme as an initiative which should create employment opportunities and help in the drive towards creating a more resource led economy.

Dr Clement Higginbotham, Director, Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology says: “this much welcomed initiative will provide the opportunity to forge links between third level institutions and the business world.”

Bioelectricity promises more ‘miles per acre’ than ethanol

Last week, the USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged that corn-based ethanol “does indeed have a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions compared to regular gasoline,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, ag program manager for the Nebraska Corn Board.
According to Brunkhorst, in the EPA’s proposed rulemaking for the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), it noted that corn-based ethanol provides a “61 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to gasoline.”


As required by EISA, Brunkhorst said EPA also included a calculation for “indirect land use” in its life-cycle calculations of corn-based ethanol.
He said including EPA’s estimate for indirect land use changes, corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 16 percent compared to gasoline, but that further reductions were possible.
According to Brunkhorst, EISA requires that future ethanol production must meet a reduction of 20 percent – existing operations are grandfathered in.
He said EPA also said it was going to ask that indirect land use change calculations be peer-reviewed and that such calculations, as they currently exist, will be open to scrutiny.
“This proposal is important on many levels because it helps clarify the environmental benefits of corn ethanol, while at the same time noting that there is room for changes,” Brunkhorst said.
He said the Nebraska Corn Board is “especially encouraged by the idea that EPA acknowledged that land use changes are in question and should be examined more closely.”
“Using questionable science, computer models or best guesses is not good policy,” said Brunkhorst.


A new study from Stanford University in California, found that while biofuels, such as ethanol, offer an alternative to petroleum for powering our cars, “growing energy crops to produce them can compete with food crops for farmland, and clearing forests to expand farmland will aggravate the climate change problem.”
In trying to maximize the “miles per acre” from biomass, researchers said the best bet is to convert the biomass to electricity, rather than ethanol.


According to their calculation, compared to ethanol used for internal combustion engines, bioelectricity used for battery-powered vehicles would deliver an average of 80 percent more miles of transportation per acre of crops, while also providing double the greenhouse gas offsets to mitigate climate change.
“It’s a relatively obvious question once you ask it, but nobody had really asked it before,” said study co-author Chris Field, director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution.
Field said the kinds of motivations that have driven people to think about developing ethanol as a vehicle fuel have been somewhat different from those that have been motivating people to think about battery electric vehicles.
“But the overlap is in the area of maximizing efficiency and minimizing adverse impacts on climate,” he said.


Researchers performed a life-cycle analysis of both bioelectricity and ethanol technologies, taking into account not only the energy produced by each technology, but also the energy consumed in producing the vehicles and fuels.
For the analysis, they used publicly available data on vehicle efficiencies from the US Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations.
And what the researchers found was that bioelectricity was the clear winner in the transportation-miles-per-acre comparison, “regardless of whether the energy was produced from corn or from switchgrass, a cellulose-based energy crop.”
For example, the researchers found that a small SUV powered by bioelectricity could travel nearly 14,000 highway miles on the net energy produced from an acre of switchgrass, while a comparable internal combustion vehicle could only travel about 9,000 miles on the highway. (Average mileage for both city and highway driving would be 15,000 miles for a biolelectric SUV and 8,000 miles for an internal combustion vehicle.)
“The internal combustion engine just isn’t very efficient, especially when compared to electric vehicles,” said Elliott Campbell of the University of California, Merced, who helped to author the study. “Even the best ethanol-producing technologies with hybrid vehicles aren’t enough to overcome this.”


The researchers found that bioelectricity and ethanol also differed in their potential impact on climate change.
“Some approaches to bioenergy can make climate change worse, but other limited approaches can help fight climate change,” says Campbell. “For these beneficial approaches, we could do more to fight climate change by making electricity than making ethanol.”
According to the researchers, the energy from an acre of switchgrass used to power an electric vehicle would prevent or offset the release of up to 10 tons of CO2 per acre, relative to a similar-sized gasoline-powered car.
Across vehicle types and different crops, this offset averages more than 100 percent larger for the bioelectricity than for the ethanol pathway, according to the study.


Bioelectricity also offers more possibilities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through measures such as carbon capture and sequestration, which could be implemented at biomass power stations but not individual internal combustion vehicles, the study found.
While the results of the study clearly favor bioelectricity over ethanol, the researchers caution that the issues facing society in choosing an energy strategy are complex.
“We found that converting biomass to electricity rather than ethanol makes the most sense for two policy-relevant issues: transportation and climate,” said Dave Lobell of Stanford University, who also co-authored the study. “But we also need to compare these options for other issues like water consumption, air pollution, and economic costs.”
Campbell said there is a big strategic decision “our country and others are making: whether to encourage development of vehicles that run on ethanol or electricity,.
“Studies like ours could be used to ensure that the alternative energy pathways we chose will provide the most transportation energy and the least climate change impacts,” he said.

Source: By Robert Pore

The Financial and Environmental opportunities in Building a Green Economy

For the past year the current financial crisis has been the centre of all media attention. While this is important and relevant to everyone today we may sometimes forget that that climate change is the defining issue of our era.

Not a day passes without a newspaper, a broadcast or a politician making references to the threats posed by economic instability, job losses, housing crisis and issues of competitiveness. All of these are hugely important but none pose any threat to our survival. 

What many people are now realizing is that the environment is our economy and by investing in green technology, and renewable energy we provide a clean limitless source of renewable energy that can drive our economy forward and attract investment into this country.

Companies ultimately decide to invest in countries for a number of reasons, access to markets, tax base, educated work force, but also for reasons of competitiveness which include availability of energy and natural resources.

Only by capitalizing on our vast renewable energy resources and availability of natural resources such as water and agricultural land can we ensure that certain industries remain in this country. Irelands future lies in the sustainable utilization of these resources and in marketing Ireland as a green clean country for the promotion of tourism. Our natural resources, renewable energy and food production will be the three defining pillars of our economy in the years to come. But first we must adapt to develop a low carbon economy to ensure not only our survival but also our short term economic future.

While the economic financial collapse has been the focus of media attention we must not forget that Climate change is upon us, and the problem is here to stay. But it is still in our power – as individuals, businesses, cities and governments – to influence just how serious the problem will become. We have the choice how to act, but the change we need to make is in ourselves. We can make a difference by supporting the transition to a low carbon world. This concept – developing a low carbon economy– is the subject of a lecture to be held in Clonakilty on the 18th May.

Over the past six months, following on from the Partnership for Change Climate Change conference I organized in Nov last, I have been working hard with colleagues on a very exciting proposal.   Together we are seeking to facilitate the participation of Cork County and City in joining the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network (CN Net).

The CN NET initiative was established by UNEP last year to assist those interested in achieving big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to achieve their goals. A number of governments around the world have now declared their aim to become climate neutral in the next decades through renewables, carbon taxes, energy efficiency, carbon offsetting and more.

Cities from Europe to Asia and North America are also coming on board with strategies including clean transport, carbon neutral buildings and awareness raising campaigns. A growing number of companies are taking steps to reduce their energy consumption and become more sustainable. From banks to energy producers and cosmetics firms, companies from across sectors are taking bold steps towards climate neutrality. Strategies range from the local to the global, with greener offices, climate neutral products and far-reaching commitments to reduce emissions across the supply chain.

UNEP’s climate neutral network brings together this growing group. As participants join, it will serve as a platform for networking and the sharing of best practice, catalyzing progress towards a low carbon society. As it grows, the network is acquiring ever greater interactivity, with the participation of intergovernmental bodies, community groups, NGOs, climate neutral events and even citizens and households.

I am delighted that we have facilitated one of the worlds experts on “building a green economy” coming to Cork where he will make a presentation to two very important influential groups.  Our guest speaker is Mr. Svein Tveitdal a former Director at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Environmental Ambassador to the city of Arendal, Norway. Apart from Mr. Tveitdal’s vast experience with the United Nations, he brings with him a wealth of business knowledge serving as Chairman of the Board of the following organisations: The Asplan Foundation, Purity (Green IT provider), Frameworks (Internet publishing), South Norway European Office in addition to being a Board member of Norfund (Government-owned investment fund risk capital in developing countries), Agder University, Zero Emission Resource Organisation and Earthprint Ltd.

In the morning Mr. Tveitdal will address a select group of influential leaders including the County Manager, City Manager, President of UCC, CIT, leading academics and senior executives of small and large companies, together with the public sector.

At noon in the Quality Hotel, Clonakilty he will address the wider community of West Cork. His presentation will provide invaluable insight into how other countries, cities, businesses and corporations are developing green economies and responding to the climate change challenge by embracing a low carbon future and joining the UNEP Climate Neutral Network.

The presentation and talk will be opened by Minister of State Trevor Sargent T.D. The midday event is free but places are limited, to ensure attendance one must pre-register. To register e mail Declan Waugh at: declan@partnershipforchange.ie or Ivan McCutcheon, West Cork Development Partnership at:  ivan@wcdp.ie