Clean-tech investor George Polk; Norman Crowley, chairman, Crowley Carbon; event host, Brian Ryan, head of energy services, Electric Ireland; and Peter Boyd, expert chair of the UK Government's Energy Efficiency Deployment Office
Wicklow was the setting for an energy briefing today whereby Irish companies showcased their technologies to help lower energy consumption and in which delegates heard about accessing finance in the clean-tech space from the climate expert and investor George Polk.
The event was hosted by Wicklow-based energy services company Crowley Carbon, which recently inked a €64m deal with Dubai company Emrill to deploy its smart building technology to some of the tallest buildings in the world.
Ireland’s Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD, opened today’s event. Just yesterday, he announced details of the Government’s new national energy efficiency action plan.
The keynote speaker today was the climate expert and investor George Polk, who spoke about how companies can go about accessing over €500m of low-cost European financing.
Before turning to the clean-tech space, Polk was the founder of The Cloud Networks, the UK Wi-Fi network operator that was bought by BSkyB in 2011.
Polk left The Cloud Networks in 2007 to pursue his interests in the climate change space. He went on to found the European Climate Foundation.
Other speakers at today’s event, which was held at Powerscourt House in Co Wicklow, included Peter Boyd, the expert chair of the UK Government’s Energy Efficiency Deployment Office. He spoke about energy efficiency initiatives from a UK perspective.
Charlie Coakley, the environmental manager with the Irish food company Dawn Meats, also detailed how the firm has reduced its energy consumption.
