By James Duffy
A showcase of green energy products and projects from across the country was held at Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) this week.
This year’s event was the fourth of it’s kind held at LYIT and this year included a SMARTrenew panel featuring experts from all over Europe.
Dr Nick Timmons of LYIT’s WiSAR Lab hosted the panel. It looked at how Ireland has moved towards a more environmentally future. It also addressed different methods the island could look at moving forwards.
Ragnar Ásmundsson from HeatRD in Iceland. Mr Ásmudsson talked about the geothermal energy that Iceland uses.
He said could help Ireland with producing more green energy. But the work in infrastructure to implement green heating would be a massive undertaking. He highlighted the fact that as an island nation Ireland could produce a lot of tidal energy.
Dr Timmons said that the panel was about ‘the exchange of knowledge’ across different countries and across different people.
“I think it’s really the mindset of people that’s the biggest problem and once we get over that we should be flying,” said Dr Timmons referring to meeting Ireland’s climate action targets.
He explained that the island of Ireland has a lot to learn in terms of renewable energy and reducing Ireland’s carbon output.
The other side of the Green Day was the exhibitions. They featured a wide range of green technology such as energy saving lights and electric cars.
There was also a focus by some exhibiters on cutting down the use of technology both for production and in our daily lives. One stand featured ‘Bespoke printed reusable cups’ while another was all about the North West Greenway Network.
Emma Yaegar from the network said that days like this helped to inform people of what type of projects and green tech is available.
Her project hopes to promote a more environmentally friendly way to travel. To achieve this it hopes to build 46.5km of cross-border greenway and cycle routes by December 2021.
