The Model X SUV will be the third all-electric vehicle type to be spawned by the Palo Alto, California, company.

Set up in 2003, so far Tesla has pioneered the all-electric Roadster (pictured), which hit the streets in 2008. Now there's 1,800 Roadsters whizzing around in 32 countries. In 2008, the first Roadster arrived in Ireland after it was purchased by a couple in Co Cork.

The Model S, Tesla's foray into the all-electric premium sedan marketplace, will start deliveries in mid-2012. Musk is aiming to deliver 20,000 of its Model S sedan by the end of 2013. Last year, Tesla said the car would have a base price of US$49,900, which would include a US$7,500 federal tax credit.



_{Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also venturing into space via his company SpaceX}

Tesla also announced it is revamping the Roadster with new innovations. However, the updated Roadster will only be available in Europe, Asia and Australia. For those in a position to fork out for the latest Roaster, you'll now be able to choose from some new colours, including cosmic black, galactic gray and magma orange. The updated Roadster will also feature Xenon headlamps, which Tesla said will make the car more suited for night driving in rural areas.

Tesla went public in 2010. The company has yet to make a profit, however.

In the summer of 2011, Tesla signed a US$100m deal to build the powertrain for Toyota's electric Rav4, which Toyota plans to bring to market in 2012. In 2010, Toyota made a US$50m investment in Tesla.

Forests and carbon footprint

As regards forests and the race to reduce the planet's carbon footprint, UN statistics have revealed that 20pc of the world's carbon emissions come from forests.

The UN's REDD programme, which has been set up to help keep the developing world's forests intact, is estimated to be valued at US$50bn over the next few years.

Paul Harris, member of the Green IFSC Steering Group, pointed to how the new provision in Irish tax legislation will serve to help the UN reach its targets as he said it would assist investors operating through the UN programme in the monetisation of forest carbon credits.

"The change is an important contribution to the emergence of the forest carbon bond market as it provides, for the first time, a cost-efficient structure for the monetisation of forest carbon credits which should prompt issuers and investors to engage with this element of the developing global low carbon economy," explained Harris.

Dublin's potential to be a hub for green financial business to transact

He said that the changes should also help entice the financial markets to look "favourably" upon Dublin's credentials as a location for listing of green and environmental bonds. According to Harris, the Bill changes around clean tech also reflect the commitment and expertise of the various Green IFSC working groups who understand the regulatory changes that are needed to make Ireland a pivotal location for green financial business to transact.

_{A 3D photo scanner pioneered by Irish company Treemetrics. The scanner helps foresters determine width, height, volume of trees, as well as wood quality}

Irish clean-tech player Treemetrics

One Irish start-up that has been steadily channeling its energies in the forestry clean-tech space is Cork-based Treemetrics. The company was co-founded by agricultural science graduates Enda Keane and Garret Mullooly back in 2005. It is aiming to revolutionise the forestry industry via its cloud-based platform that also harnesses Google Earth. Keane and Mullooly say the aim is to bring foresters around the globe into the digital century using cloud computing.

An Enterprise Ireland HPSU, Treemetrics is fast making waves in the forestry industry. Recently, the company secured contracts with some of the planet's most prominent state forest owners, including the British Forestry Commission, Forestry South Australia and the state forest owner in Finland - Metsahallitus.

Treemetrics is also seeking to double its workforce to 20 this year.

Speaking about the changes to yesterday's Bill around forests, Treemetrics CEO Enda Keane said that this new tax change would give the company, as well as Ireland, a competitive advantage.

"If we can get our forests back on track and run more efficiently that would obviously go a long way to reducing the world's carbon footprint. Anything which validates forest carbon and helps encourage growth in investing in forests is very welcome," said Keane.

He said that the real benefit of such a move as that in the Finance Bill would be seen in the years to come, especially as Ireland had one of the lowest forestation levels in the world - up from 1pc at the foundation of the State in 1922 to 10pc today. Keane said it meant Ireland is in an ideal neutral position to be seen as a world authority in carbon validation and trading in the sector to help tackle deforestation globally.

Just last week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited Treemetric's facility down in Cork when it was announced that serial games entrepreneur and tech investor Dylan Collins had become chairman of Treemetrics. Collins is currently also start-up ambassador for Enterprise Ireland.

Ireland's green economy push

But back to the Finance Bill and the Government's push to focus on propelling Ireland's green economy.

Here's what Taoiseach Enda Kenny had to say about the clean-tech element of the Bill changes yesterday: "This provision in the Finance Bill is the latest in a series of developments by the Irish Government to ensure Ireland is in the best possible position to capitalize on the financing needs of the future green economy - and attract new business and jobs to our shores as well as give a competitive advantage to indigenous companies operating in this space."

The IFSC Clearing House Group and the Department of an Taoiseach set up the Green IFSC initiative to capitalise on the growing area of green finance. Global investment in clean energy reached US$260bn in 2011, up 5pc on 2010 and almost five times the total of US$53.6bn in 2004, so it a strong focal point for investors right now.

In the past two years collaboratve efforts between the Green IFSC, the Irish Government and the private sector has resulted in a number of additional tax changes in the area of green finance in a bid to grow business and jobs in the sector.

Other recent tax changes assisted by the Green IFSC, include:

• The inclusion of carbon offsets within the existing structured finance regime (S110, TCA 1997)
• Relief from stamp duty on transfers of greenhouse gas emissions allowances (S90A SDCA 1999)
• Extension of corporation tax relief for investments made in renewable energy projects up to 31 December 2014 (S486B TCA 1997)
• Inclusion of companies involved in production of energy from renewable sources within Income Tax Relief Scheme for Investment in Corporate Trades - Employment and Investment Incentive (S488 TCA 1997).

The Wave Hub, an electrical "socket" for testing wave-energy machines, was put on the seabed off Hayle, Cornwall, in 2010.

For three years now, Ocean Energy has been testing a quarter scale prototype of its buoy in Galway Bay.

Ocean Energy's buoy uses the oscillating water column principle. As waves enter a subsea chamber they force air through a turbine on the surface, generating electricity. As the waves recede they cause a vacuum, drawing air back through the turbine.

Together with its technology partner Dresser-Rand, with which it has signed an MOU, Ocean Energy was one of a number of companies competing for the opportunity to win the Wave Hub contract. The full-scale unit, when installed, will have the capacity to generate sustainable energy to power up to 1,200 homes.

Wave Hub said it will fund Ocean Energy's deployment costs up to a maximum of £1m (€1.2m). This will include the cost of securing a marine licence and installation of moorings and deployment, it confirmed today.

Speaking this afternoon, John McCarthy, chief executive and co-founder of Ocean Energy, said the contract win was a major achievement for Irish technology that has been developed with the assistance of Irish Government funding and expertise at the UCC Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre.

"It is also an endorsement of the technology development path adopted by Ocean Energy," he said.

McCarthy said the "rigorous testing" and "proven survivability" of Ocean Energy's technology was a key driver in winning the contract for its device.

"Ireland, with its resources and technical capabilities, has the potential to become the world leader in wave energy and Ocean Energy plans to play its part in making this a reality," he said.

"Ocean Energy has completed three years of prototype testing in energetic sea conditions and is ready to make the next step to Wave Hub with a full-scale device. If the testing goes well we expect to see Ocean Energy deploy an array of devices," said Wave Hub's general manager Claire Gibson.

Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland recently released statistics, which pointed to how the Irish wave-energy industry has the potential to employ 50,000 people by 2030 and could generate more than four times Ireland's current installed capacity or 30,000MW of power.

So why did Google take the top spot? Google aced the table for its support of stronger US clean-energy policy and the strengthening of the EU's current 20pc greenhouse gas target of 30pc by 2020, said Greenpeace today.

However, Japanese telecommunications company Softbank achieved the leaderboard's highest political advocacy score ever for its post-Fukushima nuclear disaster demand for a "rapid shift" towards renewable energy and away from nuclear power, Greenpeace confirmed.

Greenpeace said Google, Cisco, and Dell all stand out for sourcing more than 20pc renewable energy globally for each company's infrastructures. 

Oracle received the lowest ranking overall due to failing to disclose either renewable or dirty energy use.

Interestingly, Apple and Facebook were not included in this year's leaderboard. Greenpeace said Apple was not included because its efforts do not meet the leaderboard criteria.

Greenpeace said Apple "has not demonstrated leadership or elected to pursue market opportunities to drive IT energy solutions that many of its competitors have, despite record profits and large cash reserves".

Facebook was not included in the previous leaderboard for similar reasons, said Greenpeace. Back in December Greenpeace ended its 'Unfriend Coal' attack on Facebook, with the duo instead declaring their mission to launch a clean-energy drive. Greenpeace said today that Facebook had recently changed its policies and committed to a "renewably powered Facebook", announcing its partnership with Opower to use the Facebook platform to help its users compare their energy usage. 

Six telecommunications companies were added since the last leaderboard. These were: AT&T, Telefónica, Vodafone, Softbank, Alcatel-Lucent, and NTT.

Major IT software and equipment brands from India and Japan - HCL, TCS and NEC - were also included in the Greenpeace evaluation.

_{Greenpeace Cool IT Leaderboard (5th edition) Summary Table. Image courtesy of Greenpeace. Click here for more information}

Is the IT sector keeping too quiet on dirty data?

"Technology giants have a real opportunity to use their power and influence to change how we produce and use energy - Google tops the table because it's putting its money where its mouth is by pumping investment into renewable energy," said Greenpeace International IT analyst Gary Cook. "The IT sector might like to consider itself forward thinking, but it is keeping far too quiet while the dirty energy industry continues to exert undue influence on both the political process and financial markets."

According to Greenpeace, the rapid expansion of global telecom infrastructure and data centres that power the cloud is driving significant energy demand in many sectors, much of it from dirty sources, such as coal and diesel. 

The energy used to power data centres, such as those operated by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and other major IT companies that deliver online services, comprises more than 2pc of US electricity demand, and is projected to grow 12pc or more per year. 

Dropoff in advocacy leadership

And while the Greenpeace ranking found a steady increase in the quantity and strength of renewable energy solutions from many companies such as Cisco, IBM, Ericsson and Fujitsu, it also found a significant dropoff in policy advocacy leadership by IT companies.

"The IT industry must use its influence, innovative spirit and technological know-how to overcome the dirty energy companies who are holding onto the status quo, and holding us back from a transition to a renewable energy economy," said Cook. "What we're seeing is a lot of talk from companies about moving toward clean energy, but so far, not much of action."

In April, Greenpeace will bring out its second How Dirty is Your Data report, which will look at the impact of the sector's rapidly growing infrastructure. Facebook and Apple will be included in that report, Greenpeace has confirmed.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association has indicated that Ireland's pharmaceutical industry generates more than 50pc of the country's exports, making Ireland the second-largest net exporter of medicines in the world. And right now 13 of the top 15 pharma companies in the world have operations in Ireland.

On the jobs front, Waldner Ireland is aiming to take on 16 new hires in 2012, as it anticipates an €8m turnover. Waldner already supplies lab spaces to companies in Ireland such as Genzyme, Pfizer and ISPEN and to academic institutions such as University College Cork and Dublin City University.

Plug and Play lab experience

Yesterday, Waldner held what it called a 'plug and play' laboratory experience at the lab, which is based at the company's Ballycoolin base in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin. At the open day, representatives from Irish universities and pharmaceutical companies tested out the energy-efficient scientific research laboratory for themselves.

Some of the sustainability-driven aspects of the lab Waldner has pioneered include a real-time dashboard or laboratory touch interface that monitors energy consumption of lab fittings and linked-up heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

The lab aims to encourage user interaction as opposed to direct analysis, with the goal of reducing energy output by 40pc, explained Christian Meichsner, laboratory carbon emissions expert and head of Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning solutions at Waldner.

Meichsner said visitors to the lab could interact with the interface, as well as viewing the fume cupboards.

User interaction

Waldner is liaising with University of Bradford to research the most effective ways of encouraging user interaction.

"Interestingly, users respond optimally to smiley faces on the communication interface. By plugging in information, for example, if the user is away from the lab the system will then decide and respond by dimming the lights and switching the heating off and automatically adjusting the laboratory ventilation," explained Meichsner.

'Pharmaceutical centre' of the world

Also speaking yesterday was Waldner Ireland managing director Noel Hodgins, who described Ireland as being "the pharmaceutical centre" of the world.

"Universities have placed a huge emphasis on improving lab facilities as more and more students enrol in science-related courses and they are becoming higher-profile, industry-linked facilities. The mass migration of pharmaceutical companies to Ireland has also seen a concentration on lab work. We have worked to provide a product that is both safety conscious, sustainable and energy efficient," added Hodgins.

Asset financing for utility-scale projects continue to be the main type of clean-energy investment in India, with US$9.5bn in 2011.

Bloomberg attests that the clean-tech upsurge has been propelled by a seven-fold increase in funding for grid-connected solar projects - from US$0.6bn in 2010 to US$4.2bn in 2011.

Solar almost reached the same level of investments as wind, which totalled US$4.6bn, according to the report.

'Record year' for India and clean tech

Ashish Sethia, head of India research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said there had been concerns at the start of the year that higher lending rates might have impacted investment. However, he said policy measures like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, and renewable energy's increasing cost competitiveness, have made this a "record year" for India in terms of its clean-tech investment climate.

The Bloomberg report pointed to how venture capital and private equity investment also made a strong comeback in India, as $425m was invested in 2011, more than four times the 2010 figure.

Wind and solar project developers such as Mytrah Energy India and Kiran Energy Solar Power were successful in carrying out deals.

India's wind sector added 2,827MW of capacity in 2011 compared with 2,140MW in 2010. This capacity placed India third in the global rankings for new wind energy installations, trailing behind China and the US.

And Bloomberg New Energy Finance is predicting that around 2,500MW to 3,200MW of wind capacity could be added in 2012.

Explained Sethia: "The surge in installation of renewable energy shows that it is becoming cost competitive and scalable, at a time when India is struggling to meet its targets for conventional power capacity."

He said that federal and state governments in India would have to ensure four elements if India's renewables focus is to stay apace.

"First, that transmission lines are available for projects; second, that the grid can handle an increased flow of renewable energy; third, that renewable purchase obligations are enforced; and, fourth, that project developers are paid on time for the power they produce," said Sethia.

The company, which was formed in 2005, is understood to be doubling its workforce to 20 this year.

The company has pioneered a unique cloud-based platform that also harnesses Google Earth, to bring foresters into the digital century using cloud computing. It has recently secured contracts with some of the planet's most prominent state forest owners, including the British Forestry Commission, Forestry South Australia and the state forest owner in Finland - Metsahallitus.

Dylan Collins’ story has been inspirational. While at Trinity College, Collins built and sold his first company, a mobile software venture. After graduating he began building his second company - Demonware - which developed the software that allowed the world's top-grossing console games like Call of Duty to be played over the internet.

When Collins was 26, Activision, the world's biggest games publisher, acquired the company for US$15m. Following the acquisition, Collins realised a new major shift was occurring in the games business - the move to browser-based gaming - and went to work on a new venture, Jolt. GameStop - a retail giant employing 48,000 people worldwide in 6,700 stores - made a major undisclosed investment in Jolt two years ago to capitalise on the obvious opportunities in advertising and micropayments.

As well as Jolt, Collins has been working away on a group e-commerce site for consumer electronics called Gruupy.com.

In April last year Collins announced today that he was leaving Jolt Online Gaming and GameStop and is understood to have been based mainly in London since then. He says his primary activity is executive chairman of an exciting new venture called Fight My Monster.

He also indicated that the federal government had concluded that wind-energy projects off the mid-Atlantic coastline would cause no significant environmental damage.

The American Bird Conservancy has had concerns about bird deaths as a result of wind turbines.

Salazar said he hopes to issue long-term wind-energy leases later this year. He also alluded to reporters yesterday that wind-farm developers should not have to wait "nine to 10 years to get a lease".

In the past five years, wind power has been growing exponentially in the US – up 33pc each year in each of the past five years. However, all of that wind-farm growth has been onshore.

While offshore projects have been proposed, none are in construction yet. This is in stark contrast to Europe, which currently has 53 offshore wind projects. According to the European Wind Energy Association's latest offshore statistics, 1,371 turbines are installed and grid connected, totalling 3,813 MW in 53 wind farms in 10 European countries. This is up from 1,136 turbines, totalling 2,946 MW in 45 wind farms in nine European countries at the end of 2010.

Cape Wind is aiming to be the first offshore wind farm in the US. If the project goes ahead, it will be based on Nantucket Sound in Cape Cod, which is in Massachusetts. Salazar approved the project in 2010.

Once offshore wind developers secure leases this year, the next step will be overcoming the financial hurdle to hurl the projects into the construction phase.

Motorcheck.ie's managing director Shane Teskey said MINI topped the poll due to its average CO2 of 117.12 grammes per kilometre.

The MINI was followed closely by manufacturers Fiat and Seat, with 118.83 and 119.78 respectively, he said.

"When we began this analysis, we had no idea which individual brand would come out on top. The level of technology being embraced by car manufacturers to reduce the carbon footprint of their vehicles is staggering," said Teskey.

Of late, car manufacturers around the globe have been vying to come up with the cleanest technologies, ramping up their hybrid and electric car portfolios in order to stay apace with cutting CO2 emissions and also due to rising fuel prices as a result of issues such as energy security.

Top 10 Cleanest Cars - Motorcheck.ie

Motorcheck.ie itself provides vehicle history information for any vehicle registered in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.



_{Morris Mini-Minor 1959. "621 AOK" was the first Mini off the production line to be badged Morris. It was never sold, and is now kept at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, UK}

However, Jay Spencer, Ernst & Young's Americas Cleantech director, said the 2011 VC investment represented a 29pc increase from the US$3.8bn raised in 2009. And in Q4 2011, VC investment in clean tech reached US$940.5m with 70 rounds of financing, said Spencer. This was a decrease of 41pc compared to the US$1.6bn raised in Q4 2010.

Clean-tech IPOs

Spencer said growth in the US clean-tech market in 2011 was supported by five clean-tech IPOs - compared to three in 2010.
Three of the 2011 deals were completed by companies focused on biofuels: Solazyme, Gevo and KiOR.

Two more IPOs were completed in Q4 2011, one by Intermolecular, a San Jose-based R&D company for the semiconductor and clean energy sectors. Intermolecular raised US$96.5m. Meanwhile, Rentech, a Los Angeles-based provider of clean-energy solutions, raised US$136.8m. 

"There's a strong appetite among clean-tech companies to go public and we see tremendous opportunity as this industry continues to mature," said Spencer. He said the growing IPO pipeline shows "viable, long-term potential."

Solar gleans highest investments

Spencer said the solar sub-segment received the lion's share of capital in Q4 2011 with US$284.5m. This figure accounted for 91pc of the sector's total investment of US$312.9m.

He said the top solar deal for Q4 was completed by Stion Corp, a San Jose, California-based manufacturer of thin-film solar panels. The firm raised US$130m.

Industry products and services

The industry products and services segment raised the second-largest amount in 2011, at $1.0bn, down 34pc from 2010. In Q4 2011, the segment raised $256.2m. The largest deal was for the quarter was completed by Better Place, a Palo Alto, California-based provider of electric car networks, which raised US$201m.

Energy storage

The energy storage segment ranked third in terms of total amount invested in 2011, with US$932.6m invested. The batteries sub-segment led the sector in Q4. Spencer said VIA Motors, a Utah-based electric vehicle development and manufacturing company, secured the largest battery transaction in Q4 2011.

Companies in the energy-efficiency segment attracted $646.9m in 2011, a 29pc decrease from 2010.

Corporate activity

According to the E&Y analysis, corporate activity was especially focused in two areas: solar and wind.

In the solar market, Google and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) invested US$189m in four California solar farms, totalling 88MW of capacity. In addition, NRG Energy acquired solar-power developer Solar Power Partners.

In the wind-energy area, MidAmerican Energy bought 49pc of the US$1.8bn 290 MW Agua Caliente project based in Yuma County, Arizona, which is being developed by NRG Energy.

Duke Energy and American Transmission bought a power line project to bring wind energy from Wyoming to the US southwest. 

Then, in Iowa, MidAmerican Energy acquired three wind power projects with a combined capacity of 404.8MW.

Clean-tech partnerships

In terms of clean-tech industry alliances in the US, some examples include Vestas, which is teaming with IBM to use its BigInsights analytics software and an IBM Firestorm supercomputer.

As well as this, Honeywell is teaming up with AliphaJet to help it with the development and commercialisation of renewable jet fuels from plant and animal matter.

California state takes the investment lead

In terms of the US, California led clean-tech investment in 2011, with the state raising US$2.8bn. Massachusetts raised the second-highest level of annual investments with US$465.1m. This was a 63pc increase from last year, said Spencer. Colorado came third in 2011, with investments in the state reaching US$363.3m.

"Clean tech is still in the early stages of a long-term journey," said Spencer. "We've reached a point where new products and services are ready to be launched, and as these products come to market, we're seeing renewed interest, innovation and opportunity in clean tech."

Via the new contract with North Carolina's Raleigh Convention Center, Cylon will centrally monitor and analyse the energy consumption of the centre remotely from its Dublin-based 'Energy Bureau' in Clonshaugh.

Cloud technologies

Sean Giblin, managing director, Cylon Group, said the company's engineers will also use their cloud-based information to determine the efficiency of the building, identify areas for improvement and make recommendations on elevating energy efficiency and delivering energy savings for Raleigh Convention Center.

Giblin said the company is excited about the contract win, as it is starting to ramp up its US focus. He spoke about how the company is capitalising on the cloud to "monitor, analyse and manage the energy consumption of buildings regardless of geographical location".

Seeking tech partners in the US

Parent company Cylon Group has had a presence in the US market for more than 15 years with its building control systems but Giblin asserted there has been little focus on energy management and conservation in the US market up to now.

"This is rapidly changing through increasing cost and regulatory pressures and we believe our unparallelled expertise and unique technology puts us in an ideal position to become a leader in this field in the US, as well as in our other core markets in Europe," said Giblin.  

Giblin said that following this new contract win, Cylon Active Energy will be "actively" seeking technology partners in the US in order to progress its growth plans.

Cylon Active Energy already supplies its energy management services to large corporations and SMEs in the UK, Ireland and across Europe. Last month, the company was awarded the Sustainable Energy Innovation Award at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland 2011 Annual Awards.

Giblin also indicated that Cylon Group will be looking to open an office in the US in 2012. Cylon Group already has offices in the UK, Europe and China.

The two ministers also announced the approval of the first two projects as part of the IERC. In all, €1m in funding will be provided via Enterprise Ireland.

Key research areas

Some of the main research areas that will be pioneered at the IERC include:

• Energy storage in commercial buildings. In particular, such research will look at using wireless networks to control and manage heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
• Redesigning and developing storage heating solutions.

The IERC itself is operating as a type of 'virtual' research centre, with the researchers meeting at Tyndall National Institute in Cork. It is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources working with a co-ordinated agency project team comprising IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Four higher education institutions have also backed the IERC. Contracts have been signed with NUI Galway, University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology.

The energy research agenda of the IERC is also industry led, with global companies in Ireland collaborating on it. Such firms include United Technologies, Bell Labs, HSG Zander and IBM. Irish unities Bord Gáis Energy and Bord Gáis Networks are also involved.

_{Powering the green economy via targeted research that can be commercialised}

Global clean-tech focus

Rabbitte said the Government's strategy is to position Ireland as a leading-edge location for such energy research developed for global markets.

He said the research carried out at the IERC will complement existing energy research activities in Ireland, including the smart grid and renewable energy integration research at the UCD Electricity Research Centre, where the researchers work in partnership with global companies, as well as EirGrid and ESB Networks.  

"Energy is of fundamental strategic importance to the economy and it is essential that we continue to invest in research to develop energy efficiency technologies which will underpin the Government's energy efficiency objectives and support economic growth in the clean technology sector," said Rabbitte.

Job creation and the green economy

Bruton pointed to how, in getting "out of this crisis" and getting jobs and growth back in the economy, that the focus will have to be on sectors where Ireland as a country has "distinct" advantages.

“The green economy clearly is one of these sectors, as not only do we have unrivalled natural resources in the area, but we have also built up a base of excellent research strength over the past decade."

From research to commercialisation

Bruton said the challenge for Ireland now is to make sure that research is channelled and targeted at commercialisation.

“That is why this centre is led by top-end global and Irish companies operating in the energy field, and will enable them to collaborate with world-leading researchers and institutions in developing cutting-edge solutions."

He said that in the coming weeks, the Government's Action Plan for Jobs will target the green economy.

Bruton pointed to how the clean-tech focus will "build on this good news with further changes to the Irish research sector to create more good ideas and ultimately, good jobs."  

Founded by Dr Antonio Ruzzelli, Anthony Schoofs and Alex Sintoni as a spin-out from UCD's School of Computer Science and Informatics and the CLARITY Centre for Web Sensor Technologies, Wattics is currently fundraising and is also planning to employ between 15 and 25 people within the next two to three years. The company has been self-funded to date.

Schoofs already came under the global innovation radar in 2011 when he won the Globe Sustainability Research Award 2011 in recognition of his contribution to sustainability research via his PhD, which focused on appliance load monitoring systems for commercial and office buildings.

Ruzzelli, Schoofs and Sintoni have created a software solution targeted at businesses so they can manage their energy consumption via a single metering sensor 'clipped' onto a main electricity switchboard.

The trio says the system provides businesses with insights into their energy usage down to an individual appliance or machine level.

Using the data, businesses can identify energy inefficiencies and take action to significantly reduce the charges on their electricity bills, said Ruzzelli.

Already the company has gleaned such clients as Jurys Hotel Group, KPMG, the Office of Public Works, Norfish Ltd and Mandat International in Geneva.

Speaking about being nominated for the Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards, Ruzzelli said it was a validation of the hard work and dedication of everyone associated with the setting up of Wattics.

Plans to take the system global

He said he felt Wattics is a "game changer" in the energy-management market. Now the team has ambitious plans to roll the system out globally.

Ruzzelli added that the system requires no complex retrofitting, no appliance sub-metering and no wiring.

Last year, Celtic Catalysts, the UCD life-sciences spin-out company, was the overall winner of the Application of R&D Category at the Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards.

Industry giants Siemens, Alstom and ABB have reportedly backed the Isles project.

It is planning to divine into the €4.6bn fund that the European Investment Bank will be making available, plus the €9.1bn that will be available from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility for the investment in trans-European energy infrastructure.

The survey polled 216 professionals within electric, gas and water utility industries around the world and highlights the challenges utilities face as they move from planning to actual smart-grid implementation.

Nearly 20pc of the companies surveyed said technical issues kept them from moving forward, which was a larger group than in last year’s survey.

“This year’s survey shows that more and more utilities companies are adding new devices to the grid and incorporating new data sets into their operational capabilities,” said Jon C Arnold, managing director for the Worldwide Power and Utilities Industry at Microsoft and a member of the Smart Grid Advisory Committee to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“However, many of these same organisations are encountering significant interoperability and integration challenges."

The survey also indicated that 72pc of respondents do not have an enterprise-wide scalable architecture in place to support current and future smart-grid deployments.

Arklow Marine Services is now building another catamaran, which is due for delivery in July 2012, and also destined for the export offshore wind market.

The company itself has a colourful history as it is a fifth-generation family business that was established in Arklow in 1864. Today, it is led by directors Billy Tyrrell, a naval architect, and John Tyrrell, a marine engineer.   

Arklow Marine Services' core business is the design and construction of aluminum and steel boats, such as passenger ferries and trawlers.

The company set its sights on the offshore wind marketplace when it secured a contract with UK-based Gardline Shipping after it detected a gap in the marketplace for a new generation of vessels for offshore wind farms.

Back in 2010, nine offshore wind farm sites were announced for UK coastal waters in January 2010. The UK itself is planning to invest more than stg£160bn over the next 30 years in developing its offshore wind energy resources.

Industry sources have also predicted that up to €30bn of investment in Irish offshore wind farms could also be a possibility in sparking new commercial opportunities for companies such as Arklow Marine Services to diversify their portfolios.

Billy Tyrrell said the building of the new vessel required the development of new ship-building processes at the firm. "Building this vessel has taken our business to a new level," he said.

Tom Kelly, head of Cleantech with Enterprise Ireland, spoke today about how innovation will be central to the future international competitiveness of Irish firms.   

Those who use Green Button via the three utilities will be able to download the past 13 months of their energy data, so they can analyse their energy usage. The move by the California utilities is a first of its kind in the US, with PG&E and SDG&E already providing Green Button data to about 6m consumers in California and SCE planning to roll out the button to its 4m customers later this year. Consumers will be able to upload their data on GreenButtonConnect.com for analysis.

Opportunities for green app developers

The technology itself uses a cloud platform that has been developed by a Colorado-based company called Tendril.

The utilities also believe there will be opportunities for developers in the energy app marketplace to create tools to help people control their home energy use, cut waste and lower their bills.

Smart grid

It was just this past September that the Obama Administration's chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra made a Green Button challenge in a blog about the start grid. At the time, Chopra wrote: "Why can't the same common-sense concept be applied to the energy industry with a 'Green Button'? Consumers should have access to their energy usage information. It should be easily downloadable and in an easy-to-read format offered by their utility or retail energy service provider."

Speaking yesterday, Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck said the company's cloud-based platform was designed to connect utilities and energy service providers, consumers and app developers to achieve smarter energy usage.

Social energy app

The Californian-based online gaming platform Simple Energy has already integrated with Green Button. Simple Energy has developed a social energy application to allow customers to compete for energy savings to win prizes. The application is now available to over 15 million homes in California and Texas and is available as a web app, by email and on Facebook. A mobile app will also go live this month, said Simple Energy CEO Yoav Lurie today.

It will be constructed south of Rawlins in Carbon County, Wyoming, covering nearly 222,689 acres of public land. The Power Company of Wyoming (PCW) said the wind farm could have as many as 1,000 turbines that would generate a combined 2,500 megawatts (MW) of cleaner electricity for about 30 years.

Analysts are predicting that the wind farm, set to be operational by 2015, could cost between €3.1bn and €4.7bn to construct, creating green jobs for the Wyoming region in the process.

PCW said the project would produce enough electricity to power between 600,000 and 800,000 homes per year.

Right now, the largest onshore wind farm in North America is in Roscoe, Texas.

Pillai, who was formerly vice-president of the energy and utilities industry at IBM's India/South Asia unit, is currently president of the India Smart Grid Forum.

Magnetar itself says the aim is to nurture innovation in clean-tech for sustainable development. 

It says it is seeking to invest in teams with "breakthrough technologies" in clean-tech domains that can significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Focus areas of the clean-tech venture capital fund include: renewable energy, energy storage technologies, advanced fuels, energy efficiency, smart grids, smarter appliances, electric and hybrid vehicles, water and waste management, next generation ICT and mobility solutions, surface transportation systems, logistics and supply chain optimisation.

But what exactly are cell and module efficiencies? Cell efficiency measures the proportion of light converted to energy in a single solar cell. Meanwhile, total area module efficiency measures light conversion across a production-size, multi-cell solar module.

Eaglesham said module efficiency provides a more realistic assessment of real-world performance than cell or aperture-area efficiency.

The World Future Energy Summit itself started yesterday in Abu Dhabi and will run until 19 January. It will cover issues such as advancing future energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies by engaging business, industry, academic and finance leaders at the summit.

According to Hogan, the aim is to install 90pc of houses with smart meters by 2014, with the introduction of a universal water charge also on the cards by 2014.

Starting from today, members of the public can voice their views about the proposed water reforms in order to "improve" the implementation process, the Government has announced.

Some of the proposed reforms include:

• The setting up of a new public utility - Irish Water - to take over the responsibility for the delivery of water services from local authorities.
• Water charges based on metered usage, with the metering programme on track to start in the latter part of 2012.
• Independent economic regulation of the water sector under the Commission for Energy Regulation (ComReg). 

Under the proposals, the Government is aiming to create Irish Water as a State-led company that will take over the water investment and maintenance programmes of the 34 county and city councils.

Hogan indicated that the key aim of Irish Water would be to supervise and accelerate the "significant" investments needed to upgrade the State's water and sewerage networks. 

By setting up Irish Water, the Government also said such a public utility would create and sustain 2,000 construction jobs each year for the next three years. It also believed the initiative would attract foreign investment and job creation by funding the major investments water and sewage services needed to support new jobs, industries and businesses.

The Government said water meters will encourage water conservation.

It has also alluded to how it believes the full potential for industry-standard IT systems for the management of water services is not being exploited.

Hogan also asserted that unaccounted-for water is a significant problem, and well above international standards.

Figures released from the Government show that water services cost more than €1.2bn to run in 2010, of which operational costs amounted to some €715m, and capital costs of over €500m.

"We are the only country in the OECD where households do not pay directly for the water they use. Our current model of water provision, where unlimited quantities of an expensive product are provided at no charge, is simply not sustainable," said Hogan.

He added that households that source their water from private supplies will not pay charges," said Hogan.

A consultation paper on the water sector reform proposals, plus a copy of the independent assessment of the independent utility Irish Water, is available on Environ.ie.

The Government is seeking views between now and close of business on 24 February 2012.

The event is part of Science Gallery's 'Surface Tension: The Future of Water' exhibition, which is running right now. It will be hosted by EPA director Micheal O'Cinneide and Duncan Stewart of Eco Eye.

Sinead O'Brien of SWAN (Sustainable Water Network) and Ciaran Fallon of Dublin City Council will also discuss possible directions that water resource management will take in Ireland in the future.

Right now, the average water usage per person in Ireland is around 150 litres. ``

The EU Water Framework Directive legislation requires governments to take a 'holistic' approach to managing their waters. It applies to rivers, lakes, groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters. Under the directive, EU member states must aim to achieve good status in all waters by 2015. See the Irish Water Framework Directive website for more information.

Increasing energy consumption led to the creation of the EU Code of Conduct. The EU aims to inform and encourage data centre operators on reducing energy consumption in an cost-effective manner that doesn't negatively impact mission-critical data centre functions. The assessment is made against a set of best practices to reduce energy losses, which include the usage of energy-efficient hardware, installing free cooling and cold aisle containment, IBM added.

The 27 IBM data centres the European Commission has awarded represent more than 70pc of the company's strategic outsourcing data centres in 15 European countries.

The energy improvements implemented in these data centres helped IBM meet a goal set in 2007 to double the IT capacity of its data centres within three years without increasing the power consumption.  

"Data centres have always been a critical part of IBM's heritage and are a significant part of our energy use and costs," said Harry van Dorenmalen, IBM chairman, Europe.

"The recognition of our commitment and leadership by the EU Code of Conduct is important to us since energy and climate-related issues are part of IBM's long-standing corporate commitment to environmental leadership. Based on our Smarter Planet vision, we can substantially reduce energy consumption in many ways in our society."

Just last December, Ireland's Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte revealed a new strategy that specifically looked at helping people who couldn't afford gas or electricity, to prevent them from living without heat, especially during cold spells.

The report, Warmer Homes: A Strategy for Affordable Energy in Ireland, was issued as the Government wants to keep people from being left in the cold and the dark because they can't afford electricity or fuel to heat and light up their homes due to three main reasons: house income, or lack thereof; the price of energy in an unstable global climate; and the energy efficiency of homes.

Many of Ireland's current dwellings are poorly insulated and need to be retrofitted, especially some homes that were built during the Celtic tiger boom without proper insulation measures being taken.

Better Energy Scheme for Ireland

The Government, via the scheme, has committed to injecting €76m into the re-opening of its Better Energy Scheme for 2012 through its new affordable energy strategy. The fund will be used to help upgrade the energy efficiency of an extra 17,000 low-income homes.

But how has the Government defined energy poverty? In the report, it refers to it as "a situation whereby a household is unable to attain an acceptable level of energy services (including heating, lighting, etc) in the home due to an inability to meet these requirements at an affordable cost".

Under its preliminary approach, the Government says a household is "considered to be experiencing energy poverty if, in any one year, it spends more than 10pc of its disposable income on energy services in the home".

So just how many people are in energy poverty in Ireland right now? Based on 2009 statistics, the Government estimates that some 317,000 households experienced energy poverty in 2009, the equivalent to more than one-fifth, or 20.5pc, of all households in the State.

The report also indicates that the marital status of a household's "chief economic supporter" represents another risk factor for energy poverty.

The Government says, however, that this approach "may underestimate the extent of energy poverty as low-income households can under-heat their homes relative to the level that would be required based on healthy standards".

Since the issuing of the report following the 2012 Budget, Rabbitte indicated that there had been a strong flow of applications for the energy efficiency upgrading of homes.

He said that the Better Energy Scheme had been designed to support the energy efficiency upgrade of 1m homes, businesses and public buildings.

E-cars

Then you have the vehicle manufacturers such as Ford and Renault, which are all in a race to bring out the cleanest, most fuel-efficient vehicles.

Believe it or not, electric vehicle technology has been around since the late 1800s. So what's the reason it hasn't been pursued until now? The vehicle manufacturers of the time decided to go down the internal combustion route, as it was more efficient.

The films Who Killed the Electric Car and Revenge of the Electric Car reflect the evolution, or to put it more aptly, both the stagnation and the rebirth of the electric car.

The latter documentary features such tech visionaries as Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla motors, as well as Bob Lutz, vice-chairman at General Motors, who has been a recent electric vehicle convert following years of scepticism. Carlos Ghosn, CEO and president of Renault of France and Nissan of Japan, also features in it.

Right now, the Nissan LEAF and the Mitsubishi iMiEV are two of the world's top-selling electric cars. And the other vehicle giants are racing to keep on top of emerging technologies to make cars cleaner and leaner.

Future of Energy report by Oracle

Oracle, in its Future of Energy report released in October, depicted a worrying energy scenario: the continuing demand for energy as well as "vulnerabilities" in the energy supply chain and volatility in energy markets are some of the factors with social, environmental and economic impacts, not just in Ireland, but worldwide.

According to Oracle, an energy revolution on a par with the electrification rollout in the 20th century is required.

As part of its country snapshot on Ireland, John Mullins, CEO, Bord Gáis, contributed to the Oracle report. Bastian Fischer, vice-president, industry strategy, Oracle Utilities, says that the scale of the energy challenge means that countries need to take action now to secure their energy needs for the future. The world's energy demand is anticipated to increase by 115pc by 2050.

Describing industry verticals, Fischer says utilities and telecom companies, for instance, need to look at their entire volume chain. As well as this, he says the smart electricity grid will see a convergence between renewables and electric mobility. He notes that to achieve energy efficiency, the IT sector will have to create software and hardware solutions in order to achieve the uptake of renewable energy sources such as wind.

Fischer says that in the restructuring and the reconfiguration of networks this will also require collaboration from consumers and the updating of ageing energy infrastructures.

But Fischer points to how renewable energy, and its consumption, will mean that energy-production centres will change, especially moving towards offshore wind energy and water storage, away from urban-based facilities.

"Production centres will change as energy become planable and scheduled. Demandside, management will require people to react, to contribute and to collaborate. Smart-meter sensors, for instance, will allow network operators to have visibility on higher voltage networks."

Smart tech at home

Energy consumers, such as the average householder, argues Fischer, will have to become informers, sending signals to utilities via smart technologies in their homes about their energy demands and shifts in their needs.

For instance with biogas, using the analogy of the successful framework in Germany whereby anaerobic digesters store biogas, Fischer says the consumption of energy and when we consume it is also something that needs to be looked at.

For example, if a household has excess energy, or has an electric car, they could potentially sell excess energy back to the electricity grid. This could come in handy when intermittents like wind are not giving enough energy to supply the grid.

Looking to electric mobility, Fischer says that such electric vehicles could play a role in decarbonising the transport segment, feeding energy back to the network via short or fast batteries.

"Technically that is possible," he adds.

However, the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries, for instance, is one factor that could potentially impede their efficiency in this life cycle, as their infinite nature would also pay a price for balancing out the grid, he notes.

Oracle itself is involved in an electric mobility project in Portugal called MOBI-E, as part of the ecar charging station rollout. In relation to IT, however, Fischer and Oracle believe that the key for successful energy projects will mean the future proofing of open platforms. And smart meter technology deployment by utilities will be key. That's where IT will really come to the table.

"It will mean hyperscalable infrastructures," says Fischer.

He argues the need to aggregate and analyse demand-side management. "You will need regulation on privacy. It's not a problem of IT. IT will enable access to in-home displays so that all the data will be there so the networks can be run efficiently."

And Fischer's concluding words? "Intermittent sources of energy will require collaboration from regions so that the smart grid will be always on 24/7, irrespective of weather patterns. CSPs and utilities will need to communicate, as will the end customer with the utilities."

“We've already committed to providing funding this year to help more than 10,000 homeowners install solar PV panels on their rooftops," explained Axel Martinez, assistant treasurer at Google Treasury.

“But this investment represents our first investment in the US in larger-scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid - instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes."

In the official Google blog, Martinez said Google is investing US$94m alongside global investment firm KKR and Recurrent Energy. SunTap Energy, a new venture formed by KKR to focus on US solar projects, will provide the remaining equity.

Towards a sustainable energy future

"We believe investing in the renewable energy sector makes business sense and hope clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future."

Martinez said the energy produced by the projects is contracted for 20 years with the Sacramento Municipal district (SMUD), which has developed a feed-in tariff programme to help green the grid for residents in the area.

“We believe the world needs a wide range of solutions - from wind, to transmission, to solar PV and concentrated solar - and we look forward to new opportunities next year to further expand our portfolio of clean-energy investments," Martinez said.

Just two years ago, Greenpeace hit out at Facebook for its use of coal and launched its global Unfriend Coal Campaign.

At the time, Greenpeace enlisted 700,000 online activists to call on Facebook to power its data centres with clean energy instead of coal. More than 700,000 Facebook users in 14 countries supported the Unfriend Coal Campaign, and set the Guinness World Record for most Facebook comments in one day.

As a result of its online debacle over coal usage at Facebook data centres, Greenpeace has today called a truce on its campaign.

And the result?

"Greenpeace and Facebook will now work together to encourage major energy producers to move away from coal and instead invest in renewable energy. This move sets an example for the industry to follow," said Tzeporah Berman, co-director of Greenpeace's International Climate and Energy programme today. "This shift to clean, safe energy choices will help fight global warming and ensure a stronger economy and healthier communities."

The energy used to power data centres, such as those operated by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and other major IT companies that deliver online services is significant, totalling more than 2pc of US electricity demand, and is projected to grow 12pc or more per year.  

So what is Facebook aiming for here exactly?

Facebook said today its goal is to power its operations, including its data centres, using clean and renewable energy.

The company said it would build on its leadership in energy efficiency through the Open Compute Project – an industry-wide group that works to design and enable the delivery of the most efficient server, storage and data centre hardware designs for scalable computing.

"Facebook looks forward to a day when our primary energy sources are clean and renewable, and we are working with Greenpeace and others to help bring that day closer," said Marcy Scott Lynn of Facebook's sustainability programme.

"As an important step, our data centre siting policy now states a preference for access to clean and renewable energy. Another important step will be to work with Greenpeace to put the power of our platform to use for the environment," said Lynn.

She pointed out how Greenpeace has been particularly effective using Facebook to spark environmental awareness and action.

"We are excited to work with them to explore new ways in which people can use Facebook to engage and connect on the range of energy issues that matter most to them - from their own energy efficiency to access to cleaner sources of energy."

Getting other IT companies in on the clean act

Facebook is also vying to engage with utility providers about the sources of energy that power their data centres.

"Facebook's commitment to renewable energy raises the bar for other IT and cloud computing companies, such as Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Twitter," said Casey Harrell, senior IT analyst for Greenpeace International.

"The Facebook campaign proved that people all over the world want their social networks powered by renewable energy, and not by coal. Greenpeace will continue to measure, report and campaign on the sector's progress to green the cloud," added Harrell.

Facebook users

Greenpeace and Facebook have also agreed to develop and promote "experiences" on Facebook that help people and organisations connect with ways to save energy and engage their communities in clean-energy issues.   

Greenpeace said today it makes extensive use of Facebook to engage its supporters in campaigns, and is the most 'liked' environmental non-profit organisation on Facebook. Right now, more than 3.8m users like Greenpeace's Facebook pages, including almost 1m people who like the Greenpeace International page.

"This is greater than any other synchronous region in Europe over this timeframe," he said.

While the majority of the 40pc renewable electricity target will be met from wind generation, he said Ireland's – and EirGrid's – work will not stop with wind.

"There is ongoing work to develop a better understanding of the potential for integrating other renewable sources, such as ocean energy technology, biomass and waste-to-energy plants," said Byrne.

EirGrid today released its Annual Renewable Report for 2011, and Ireland's Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD, was on hand at Dublin Port this morning to support the country's wind-energy drive.

So where is the island for wind energy?

• Ireland and Northern Ireland now have a total of 2,262 megawatts of renewable electricity capacity.
• With 15pc of wind now part of Ireland's electricity portfolio, the island is well on its way of reaching its target of having 40pc electricity being generated from wind by 2020 (most likely 37pc)
• Smarter technologies, such as energy tech, biomass and waste-to-energy plants, will be playing an increasing role in helping Ireland hit its 2020 targets, as well as overthrowing its current 90pc-plus dependence on energy imports for its energy needs.

Against a backdrop of fiscal volatility in the EU, the island of Ireland overall still managed to install a combined 270MW of wind generation - Ireland (218MW) and Northern Ireland (52MW) - since EirGrid's September 2010 report.

This has brought the total installed renewable generation on the island to 2262 MW.

However, EirGrid did acknowledge today that the rate of yearly installed wind will need to increase in order to reach the circa 5100MW goal of wind generation to meet the 40pc renewable electricity targets (north and south) by 2020.

It said that technology building blocks will include:

• Energy technology
• Biomass
• Waste-to-energy plants

EirGrid has also recently published the results of an offshore grid research study that examines the potential viability of offshore grids in the seas around Ireland.

"We are continuing our active involvement in the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative with nine other European countries," said Byrne.

He said that EirGrid and SONI (System Operator for Northern Ireland) have worked on identifying many of the operational challenges to managing high levels of variable renewable generation on the power systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 2020.

And the outcome is that EirGrid has initiated a three-year programme called Delivering a Secure, Sustainable Electricity System (DS3) to develop the appropriate solutions.

Engagement from industry stakeholders

"The broad nature and strategic importance of this work means that any decisions taken will need input and engagement from all relevant industry stakeholders, and we are working to facilitate open communication and co-ordination at all stages of this process," said Byrne.

He said that moves towards increasing amounts of renewable generation on the power system will also require continuing work on the island's grid infrastructural programmes (GRID25, and RIDP), as well as the Gate 3 grid connection process, and additional technical analysis.

The WSSIC aims to create an expert resource in modernising Ireland’s water infrastructure by taking advantage of Nimbus' technological knowledge and leveraging both councils' experience in water resource operation.

The WSSIC plans to harness state-of-the-art technology in water quality monitoring, leakage reporting and repair, remote monitoring and much more. The resulting innovations will be rolled out across Co Cork with a view to deploying to all city and county councils in Ireland.

In doing so, the WSSIC will seek to become internationally recognised as a hub for innovation in water-based systems and technologies.

Alongside more efficient water services and monitoring processes, the WSSIC will be used as a catalyst for the creation of Irish-based jobs and enterprise.

The Nimbus Centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for embedded systems research, development and demonstration. The centre's 65 researchers and engineers also focus on hardware, systems integration and networking in application fields, such as energy, security and user interfaces.

“The creation of this innovation hub will help to provide better water services for the people of Cork and in doing so will create new industry opportunities and jobs,” said Cllr Tony Fitzgerald, Deputy Lord Mayor.

Martin Riordan, Cork County manager, added: “We need to look at new and more efficient ways of managing all the water and waste-water sites across the whole county.

“The key challenge will be to ensure that all the sites can be managed efficiently through a centralised control system,” Riordan said.

“The drive towards greener manufacturing methods on Earth is pushing space companies to build electronic systems for satellites without using certain toxic materials, like lead,” said Finbarr Waldron of Tyndall’s Microsystem’s Research Centre, who is leading this programme.

“As the life of a satellite is typically guaranteed for 15 years, it is important to understand how lead-free electronic systems operate in the extreme environment of space. Once a satellite is launched, it cannot be repaired – failure is not an option,” he said.

Extreme conditions

Researchers will investigate the use of materials that can withstand the extreme conditions spacecrafts experience. The materials need to be able to take rapid temperature changes, which can typically be from 55°C-125°C. They must also survive high levels of mechanical shock and acceleration, which occurs during the spacecraft’s launch.

“Aerospace is a very demanding application area for electronic assemblies: an extremely high level of reliability is required, yet equipment can experience very harsh conditions in terms of vibration and temperature swings,” Dr Jeff Punch, director of Stokes Institute at University of Limerick.

“We will draw on our knowledge of solder alloys to select the optimum material for aerospace applications, and the project will involve a rigorous programme of testing and analysis to prove the reliability of the alloy,” he said.

Finding lead-free components

Electronic assemblies are a major feature for spacecrafts for flight control and on-board experimentation. Lead-bearing materials have been banned in most electronics since 2006 by the EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive, though areas such as aerospace initially received an exemption.

However, as the electronics supply chain is dominated by consumer technology, lead-compatible components have proved difficult to source for the aerospace industry.