What to do with recycled materials?

There must be something we can do with all the recycled materials now piling up in the country?

A dramatic drop in the prices paid on international markets means that Irish waste companies have rather a lot of material which they are currently storing, presumably with more arriving every day.

(Image: enviro-solutions.com)

The cost of storing all this waste presumably means that companies will need an even better price if they are to recover their costs. Hence the suggestion that waste collection charges would have to go up.

But surely, since these are useful materials, there is something creative we can do with them? Some new businesses that could be started?

Suggestions on a postcard please to the Environment Minister's new action group, which has been given until mid-November to come up with some options.

Who do you buy your electricity from?

Veteran environment journalist Fred Pearce has started a new Green Wash column at The Guardian.

His opening salvo examines the question of green electricity supply, and green energy tariffs -- the scheme that lets British energy customers pay a premium for green energy. But, as Pearce reveals, there is no guarantee that the extra money is used to generate green energy, or to pay for the installation of additional renewable generators (e.g. wind turbines).

What's more, some companies can apparently sell their "green energy" several times (ie sell more than they generate).

In Ireland, we can choose from two electricity suppliers: ESB and airtricity . The latter owns several wind farms and, as a result, claims its electricity is 79% renewable. But, given that all of Ireland's electricity is distributed down the same national grid, how can airtricity customers know that their supply is indeed 79% renewable?

Does switching to airtricity really help to drive the move to renewables in Ireland, or just make us feel good?

Einstein's fridge and the Aga cooker

I hadn't known that Einstein had invented a novel type of fridge in 1930, together with Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard. I was even more intrigued to read that engineers at Oxford are reviving their elegant design, because it has no moving parts and is ideal to run on solar power.

The physics fridge uses ammonia, butane and water, rather than freons, and exploits the fact that liquids boil at lower temperatures when the air pressure around them is lower.

The green Oxford physics fridge would be low maintenance and ideal for rural locations, but it's still at the prototype stage.

The news reminded me of another kitchen appliance invented by yet another Nobel physicist: the Aga cooker was the brainchild of Swedish physicist and inventor Gustaf Dalén in the early 1900s.

He set out to make an energy-efficient, multi-purpose cooker that could be used for baking, boiling, grilling and warming, and that would need little watching or attention. Aga, by the way, stands for Aktiebolaget Gas Accumulator

What's green, and earning money?

Expect to hear more about the Danish island of Samsø which, thanks to a massive community effort over the past decade, is now self-sufficient in renewable energy.

The 4,000 inhabitants spent €54 million (raised in local taxes and investment), to install nearly a dozen wind turbines on land, and the same again offshore, plus banks of solar panels, and some biomass generators.

The scheme has been so successful it is selling electricity to the mainland and generating an income for the locals -- albeit about €68 per household a year.

Shows what can be done. Looks pretty idyllic too -- we predict a boom in ecotourism there.

Irish firm makes CleanTech top 100

An interesting list of the 'companies of the future' has just been published by the Guardian and Library House. It spotlights 100 private firms around the world working to develop new clean, renewable and sustainable technologies.

Interesting to see Irish firm OpenHydro tipped among the 100 hottest to watch.

The Dublin company, one of only a few picked out in the marine power section, was selected for its innovative turbine design. This is already generating power off the Scottish Orkney Islands, and the four-year-old company plans to be the first in Britain or Ireland to produce tidal power for the National Grid.

The full 100 listing makes for interesting reading -- as might be expected, rather a lot of German companies listed, but also quite a lot of British firms (surely not a national bias there?!)