Authors: Kevin Fitzduff & Morgan Burke, Stream BioEnergy Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a sustainable form of renewable energy production through a naturally occurring process in which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen in an enclosed system. The process produces a methane-rich biogas and a nutrient-rich fertiliser known as ‘digestate’. All organic material except wood can be used in the AD process. Feedstocks for biogas production include ...

  The Irish Academy of Engineering has issued its latest Energy Policy Advisory to Government. It contains 15 recommendations which, it estimates, could reduce both 2020 transport energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions by over 15% below current predictions – and at relatively modest overall cost to the Exchequer. The challenge, according to the Academy, is to work towards Ireland’s ‘20-20-20’ climate-change commitments in the context of economic recovery and to enhance personal ...

   Author: Pieter Konings Msc MIEI CEng, project engineer, RKD Architects Architecture and engineering (AE) practices are increasingly looking to available projects all over Europe. The main reason for this is the increased integration of Europe as a continent, with better, more affordable travel connections constantly being developed. In addition, increased IT cloud services and better broadband connections have significantly improved communication methods such as teleconferencing, ...

Large and progressive contractors are claiming significant benefits in construction management efficiency through the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) (1). While these contractors note that the cost benefits to the project budget alone justify the implementation of BIM in the field, it is also worth noting that the UK Government (in its UK Construction Strategy 2011) (2) has mandated the construction industry in the UK to use BIM on all public projects by ...

  Authors: Desmond O'Connor, National Roads Authority; Clodagh Staunton, PMCE Consulting Engineers; and Louise Doherty, Roadplan Consulting A report was commissioned by the National Roads Authority (NRA) in 2012 to examine how collision data is collected in Ireland. This report, entitled ‘Contributory factors analysis for road traffic collisions’, aimed to identify gaps in the data collected about contributory factors for road traffic collisions. Since formal collision records began in ...

  Author: Mary Nyhan, principal, Nyhan Tax Advisers Indeed, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research stated this month that the UK economy is finally bigger than it was before the crisis, with gross domestic product surpassing its pre-recession peak. Enterprise Ireland has also estimated that the UK is the greatest market for Irish companies expanding abroad. In my own experience, this is a function of the realistic optimism that is returning to the market, along with the ...