It’s a great source of pride that they haven’t all ended up in the Liffey as I feared they might. Who can forget the unfortunate fate that befell some of the Cow Parade figurines in Dublin a few years back? These bovine statues were displayed, unmolested, throughout the globe, only to end up decapitated on the streets of Ireland. For shame.

Perhaps this is a sign we are growing up as a society. Now that we’ve proved we can be trusted with bikes, why not do the same thing with cars?

There’s a new Irish company called GoCar trying to do just that. Modelled on similar projects that have been running in Europe for 20 years, it’s a car sharing club offering short-term rentals to members.

For a once-off registration fee, you can book the nearest available vehicle online or by phone. Just turn up, swipe your membership card and hop in. You then drive around at your leisure at a cost of under a fiver an hour before dropping it back to a designated spot for the next punter.

Brilliant, eh? All the advantages of a car without the hassle. No fuel, tax, insurance or servicing costs, no depreciation and no parking stress. And you never have to wash it yourself. Not only that, but less car ownership will result in less traffic and fewer emissions which will benefit everyone except the taxman.

GoCar was only operating in Cork and Cloughjordan but is on its way to Dublin. Start date September the 1st. I reckon schemes like it should be in every town and city in the land. So, how about it, Green ministers? Any chance of giving these eco-heroes a few spare parking spots in Dublin to get started?

www.gocar.ie

The cylindrical-shaped Heliotrope has a series of balconies covered with vacuum-solar thermal collectors and features one large 6.6 kW roof solar panel called the Sun Sail that pivots (in addition to the house’s rotation) to match the angle of the sun.  The pivoting motion allows the Sun Sail to produce about 30 to 40 percent more energy than a static solar panel.

The roof houses a hand railing system that doubles as solar thermal tubing for water heating.  The house also features triple-paneled thermal-insulated glass on the side of the house facing the sun so that the light streaming into the home is maximized throughout the day.

The design also includes rain-water collectors and a waste water purification system.  Currently, three Heliotrope homes have been built.

As an ethically conscious consumer – whether that means the odd jar of Rainforest Alliance certified coffee or the latest bamboo bicycle – the chances are that your products arrive in your home only at the end of a very long sea journey in a rather large container ship.

These vessels predominantly run on the dregs of refined crude oil: fuel oil, the heaviest, dirtiest fuel type, containing 2000 times the amount of sulphur compounds as that found in road petrol or diesel. The sulphur emissions alone are thought to be responsible for around 60,000 deaths a year across coastal parts of Europe and Asia, and although measures have been taken to reduce sulphur emissions, without further intervention that figure could rise to around 87,000.

The carbon footprint of marine fuel fares little better: shipping’s CO2 emissions are pegged at around 1 billion tonnes per year, contributing between 2 – 5 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions.

Although shipping is widely recognised as the most ‘carbon efficient’ mode of commercial transport

Ireland could become energy independent if it adopts a plan to create a series of pumped hydro storage stations along its western coast.

That’s the claim of the team behind Natural Hydro Energy (NHE), which proposes to flood and dam coastal valleys from Donegal to Kerry, creating reservoirs to provide hydroelectric power as a back up to wind energy. The idea is simple: when the wind is blowing, some of the energy is used to pump water up to a dammed valley; when the wind drops, the water is released back down into the sea inlet through turbines, which generate electricity.

Over the next 15 months, NHE’s environmental team will undertake detailed further hydrological and geological studies on potential reservoir locations.

The €3.45 billion project will comprise a 2GW peak power plant, including 18 onshore wind farms, a hydro station and a grid transmission connection. NHE claims that there is strong investor interest and that “detailed financial models show a strongly profitable entity capable of producing carbon-free, price-stable and secure electricity of strategic importance”.

The project also comes with the blessing of the country’s chief scientific officer, Peter Cunningham. But others are not so sure. “You would normally fill a reservoir of the size mentioned by gravity using water supplies”, says Bill Finlinson, Associate Director of environmental consultancy Entec UK. “Energy costs to fill it would exceed the output generated if all the water had to be pumped up. This raises question marks over its viability.”

But NHE’s Chief Executive Officer, Graham O’Donnell, dismissed the qualms. “We have more than sufficient energy, especially when there is surplus wind. The storage capacity is 90GWh” – enough, he claims, to keep the turbines spinning for four days non-stop.

At first glance, it could be something from a sci-fi movie. Looking like a cross between a milk van and a smart car, the MX-Libris makes an immediate impact with its squat shape, white façade and glass door. Concept cars are notoriously off-the-wall, but this is neither a family car nor a sports car – this is a taxi.

Designed to be environmentally friendly, the car adopts green technologies beyond those seen in standard low-carbon cars. Every aspect of the MX-Libris has been carefully created to optimise efficiency and make it a zero-emissions model, from rain water collection to its bamboo floor.

Full article here: http://www.theecologist.org/investigations/science_and_technology/572344/when_will_we_see_a_green_taxi_industry.html

The spokesman said Mr Gormley had not been aware the circular was being issued earlier this month. “It had not even been seen by the Minister’s office in advance of it being issued to motor taxation offices.”

He said the circular to local authorities was a response to official figures showing a rise in the number of vehicles switching from private motor tax classes to commercial vehicle classes.

He also insisted that it involved no change in the rules, as people who availed of cheaper road tax for commercial vehicles had always been required to sign a declaration at their local Garda stations that they would not use the vehicles “for social, domestic or pleasure purposes”.

The only change was a requirement for an applicant for a commercial licence to produce a Revenue registration identity number.

The spokesman said the circular was issued to reinforce the existing position in relation to goods vehicles, in the light of growing numbers of private cars being reclassified as goods vehicles, including 4X4 vehicles which are often expensive to tax.

Labour energy spokeswoman Liz McManus said she wondered if similar restrictions on using work-related vehicles for personal use was to apply to ministerial cars. “Somehow I doubt it,” she said. Sinn Féin environment spokesman Martin Ferris said the circular was simply a new way to take money from people.

Full article here: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/0825/1224277546297.html

The designers at Frog believe that early EV owners will appreciate familiar, hands-on technology, as opposed to intimating mega-high tech. That’s why one of the defining features of the Blink is its charging hose, that wraps around a spool much like a garden hose. It’s simple, it’s approachable, and won’t jam up. Heck, you can almost picture the thing in a Norman Rockwell painting.

The residential version consists of two separate parts, the charger itself and the cable wrap. This is so that the cable can be placed in different parts of the owner’s garage, depending on where their vehicle’s charging outlet is located. If they change vehicles and the new car has the outlet on the other side, it’s relatively simple to just move the cable wrap to the other wall. The connector (or “nozzle”, if you will) doesn’t stick out from the wrap, plus both components have rounded edges, so users won’t snag themselves on it when squeezing past in a cramped garage.

Full article here: http://www.gizmag.com/frog-design-blink-ev-charger/15887/

Participants of Ireland’s first electric car trial are plugging in and charging up at home as ESB domestic charge points are rolled out nationwide. Conor Faughnan, AA Ireland is taking part in the study and is currently testing the Mitsuibishi iMiEV electric car, as well as a domestic charge point which was installed in his home last week.

“I’m using the Mistubishi iMiev at the moment, and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. It’s actually great fun to drive, it works really well and it certainly turns heads on the streets of Dublin.

“This is really exciting technology and it makes absolute sense for Ireland, a small island that has to import every litre of oil that it uses. AA is very enthusiastic about the future of electric cars; I feel certain that my first electric vehicle will not be my last.”

The two year trial conducted by Trinity College Dublin on behalf of ESB is supporting the planning/implementation of the charging infrastructure in Ireland as well as analysing customer behaviour and attitudes. Domestic charge points have been installed in homes in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Ennis and Sligo.

Commenting on the trial, Dervla O’Flaherty, ESB ecars said, “The ecar trial is an exciting and important project that will inform us about driving trends, usage patterns as well as the new ecar experience. The trial also provides ESB with an in-depth knowledge of how the technology and its integration into the electricity network will work.”

Full article: http://blog.aaireland.ie/?p=240

While it’s a far cry from rocket fuel at this stage, the biofuel made from the by-products of Scotch whisky distillation is just as effective as normal petrol and just as easy on the engine, which requires no modifications.

Professor Martin Tangney (45) from Macroom, Co Cork, has been working with some of Scotland’s largest whisky producers at the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University to turn the by-products of distillation into fuel.

Whether it’s single malt, single grain, blended, smoke or peat-flavoured Scotch, the end result is the same: a clean, carbon-neutral fuel that can be blended with regular petrol to run an engine.

While whisky purists may gasp at the thought of a dram of Glenkinchie, Tullibardine or Benromach going down someone’s petrol tank, Prof Tangney can assure them that not one drop of the liquid gold will ever be wasted making his biobutanol.

Full article: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-scientists-invention-puts-whisky-in-the-car-2301186.html

The researchers were studying the effect of a microbe known as Azotobacter vinelandii. The microbe, which is found around roots of different nitrogen-fixing food plants, creates an enzyme known as vanadium nitrogenase. The enzyme uses nitrogen to generate ammonia, which is what makes it useful to farmers.

There is still need for a lot of work in order to perfect this unique method. One of the challenges that the scientists have to deal with is extracting the enzyme, which is very difficult. There is great hope although the findings are still at an early stage. This is literally producing fuel from thin air!

Full article here: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/autos/news-exhaust-powered-cars