RT @Eco__Evolution: #Ireland tops the EU for wind energy take-up http://t.co/SUzH5GRY /No it doesn't - what bull!

via:packrati.us Ireland

RT @Eco__Evolution: #Ireland offers the greatest average wave power in EU & most consistent wind energy http://bit.ly/kQ0cKX

Ireland via:packrati.us

RT @britesprite: Landfilll in #Ireland will burn for another two weeks http://dld.bz/MCxE #waste /Lovely

Ireland via:packrati.us waste

IT IS HUGELY ironic that President Sarkozy called last week for Ireland’s corporate tax rate to be increased, as some sort of quid pro quo of the EU-IMF loan to Ireland. It is ironic, because it completely misses the point of who’s doing who a favour. Let’s leave aside, for the moment, the fact that the rate is a huge revenue raiser, that such things are a sovereign right and that Ireland is not being picked on for its low rate but for the fact that its rate is clear. (Other countries in the EU have effective rates than go lower than Ireland’s, depending on the FDI deal being dangled.)
One could certainly understand Mr. Sarkozy’s pronouncements if France and the other EU member states were gifting Ireland a large amount of money – some give and take would be expected. But what has happened is something designed to be a win-win for France, Germany and other EU states. Not only do their banks – the bondholders of the Irish banks – get off scot-free, while Irish taxpayers foot the bill, they as European governments earn a tidy little profit from the interest rate differential, middlemen between the markets and Ireland. In that context, the irony is the general perception that European taxpayers are helping to bailout Irish banks, while it is in fact Irish taxpayers helping to bailout European banks.

ireland irish banks bailout

RT @ei_dscanlon: RT @DonalTravers: Intel is investing $500 million in #Ireland - this is hugely significant. http://bit.ly/hUjiuS

Ireland via:packrati.us

RT @astro_paolo: Magnificent view of #Ireland on Christmas eve! #iss #Xmas http://flic.kr/p/94twW8
– Ann Donnelly (ann_donnelly) http://twitter.com/ann_donnelly/status/18964216270557184

Ireland Xmas iss via:packrati.us

Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions fell by nearly 8% last year, the first time a fall has been reported in 20 years.

ireland crisis greennumbers greenhouse gases greenhouse gas emissions epa kyoto

One of Ireland's biggest utility companies, GT Energy, has announced plans to build the country's first geothermal electricity plant.

ireland geothermal energy geothermal greennumbers renewables baseload GT Energy

In actual fact, wind-created energy is horrendously expensive

wind irish times ireland wind energy

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has just launched a new five-year strategic plan with a mission of transforming Ireland into a society based on sustainable energy structures, technologies and practices, and a vision of making Ireland a recognised global leader in sustainable energy.

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland seai sustainable energy ireland greennumbers

THE Israeli ambassador to Ireland has been heavily criticised after withdrawing from an Oireachtas committee hearing today into the flotilla raid in which nine people were killed.

israel ambassador ireland flotilla murder kidnapping coward cowardice Oireachtas

Ireland's first on-street charging points for electric vehicles will be unveiled today by the ESB.

electric car ev phev esb Ireland electric vehicle

Around 12,800 years ago the northern hemisphere was hit by the Younger Dryas mini ice age, or "Big Freeze". It was triggered by the slowdown of the Gulf Stream, led to the decline of the Clovis culture in North America, and lasted around 1300 years.

Until now, it was thought that the mini ice age took a decade or so to take hold. Not so, say William Patterson of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and his colleagues.

They show that at the start of the Big Freeze, temperatures plummeted and lake productivity stopped within months, or a year at most. "It would be like taking Ireland today and moving it up to Svalbard" in the Arctic,"

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IBM and the Irish EPA have put together a site to show the water quality of lakes and beaches in Ireland

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"Ireland now ranks fourth in the world for the contribution of wind energy to electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency's 2008 Wind Energy Annual Report.

Ireland, which supplies 8.7% of electricity demand from wind, is only behind Denmark (19.3%), Spain (11.7%) and Portugal (11.3%)."

ireland wind energy iea greennumbers greenmonktv

Of all the world's developed nations, ­Ireland is the one that is closest to a depression. The banking system is shot, the housing market has collapsed, unemployment is expected to rise to more than one in six of the population. The deterioration in the public finances – and this is saying something – has been even more acute than in Britain. The Irish economy is expected to contract this year by just under 10%.

The good news is that Ireland's predicament makes it a prime candidate for a "green new deal" – policies aimed not just at helping the economy through a difficult time but also to make it better able to face the twin challenges of a world where fossil fuels are dwindling and the temperature is rising.

green green new deal ireland greenmonktv

Warm weather in 2007 helped the European Union towards its target of cutting global warming gases under the UN Kyoto Protocol for fighting climate change, but Spain, Italy and Ireland remained way off track.

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