ENVIRON 2014 to discuss whether clean tech is good for environment

24 Feb 2014

At this year’s environmental expo, ENVIRON 2014, a group of panellists are due to discuss whether clean tech is actually causing more harm to the environment than good.

With the theme of this year’s event being ‘environmental challenges and solutions’, the debate chaired by Paul Butler of Enterprise Ireland and held in the Pacaar Theatre, Science Gallery, will address contemporary concerns that new technologies developed to provide solutions for today’s environmental challenges may not be universally beneficial to the environment as a whole.

The debate will also examine the role of environmental research in promoting and guiding the development of new technology and will no doubt be discussing Ireland’s push towards a more self-sufficient energy country.

The two-day event will be held in Trinity College Dublin – the first time in 21 years – from 24 – 26 February is one of the largest environmental events in the country’s calendar and covers a wide variety of topics including water quality, climate change, energy, biodiversity and bio resources, environmental policy and conservation, waste management, and air quality and urban development.  

Over 300 delegates, mostly comprised of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, are expected to attend the event. The delegates will exchange information on their most up-to-date findings with a large and diverse audience made up of academics, industry members and policy makers.

Environmental hub

ENVIRON was last held in Trinity College Dublin in 1993. This year’s event is being organised jointly by the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Engineering at Trinity, in association with the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland (ESAI).  

The featured discussion is sure to raise a few eyebrows given its controversial nature and its panellists will include Mr Rory O’Donnell, of the National and Economic Social Council, Prof Pete Smith, Science Director of Scotland’s Climate XChange, and Professor of Soils and Global Change in the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, and Bob Ursem, Scientific Director of the Botanic Garden, Delft University of Technology.

The event also features a career expo for those looking to work in the environmental sector and will get the chance to meet NGOs, environmental consultancies, research institutes and semi state bodies to discuss job opportunities, internships, post-doctorate and PhD programmes.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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