Silicon RepublicClimate – Silicon Republic

How many people could live on Earth?

Gordon Hunt — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:10:23 +0000

If there’s one thing humans are good at, it’s populating the planet. However, at what stage does this become a very real worry?

Forget a climate shift in centuries, more like decades, climatologists claim

Colm Gorey — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 07:51:58 +0000

Despite efforts by world governments to establish an acceptable level of global warming as a means of tackling climate change, some climatologists are arguing that it’s all too little too late.

WeForest doubles crowdfunding target to empower Indian village

John Kennedy — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:44:58 +0000

WeForest.org has surpassed its initial $5,000 crowdfunding goal and is now hurtling towards a new $10,000 target, which will enable it to create 180 jobs for local women in the village of Dympep in India, planting trees that may help fight the climate change problem in the area.

World awaits birth of ‘baby dragons’ in Slovenia

Colm Gorey — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 09:09:29 +0000

Like something out of Game of Thrones, a female olm lizard in Slovenia is about to give birth, and people are getting rather excited about the arrival of a new litter of ‘baby dragons’.

Gold and platinum discovered in south-east Irish streams

John Kennedy — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 12:53:52 +0000

Precious gold and, for the first time, platinum, deposits have been discovered in streams and rivers in south Leinster, according to the Geological Survey of Ireland’s Tellus Programme.

The bees are still in trouble, so we are too

Gordon Hunt — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 17:21:41 +0000

Pollinators (like bees and butterflies) around the world are under increasing threat, putting three quarters of the world’s food supply at risk.

Watch: Can nature handle many more extinctions?

Gordon Hunt — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 12:19:08 +0000

Losing any species of animal or plant could have a far more lasting impact on our environment then many people think. But what happens when it’s more than one species vanishing?

Watch a meteorite explode over Route 66 in the Mojave Desert (video)

John Kennedy — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 09:28:38 +0000

Time lapse videos shot in the most isolated places provides us with a glimpse of a beauty we can only imagine and remind us that in the greater scheme of space and our own universe we are tiny specks of star dust as this meteorite explosion captured over Route 66 in the Mojave desert shows.

France to lay 1,000km of solar roadways over next 5 years

Colm Gorey — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 09:45:05 +0000

As part of a major investment in renewable energy, the French government is to begin a project to lay 1,000km of solar roadways over the next five years.

Watch: All of last year’s wild weather in one satellite video

Gordon Hunt — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 10:58:28 +0000

Using satellite recordings from all three meteorological organisations, a composite video showing every single storm from 2015 is quite the spectacle.

UCD spinout Oxymem named in Global Cleantech 100

John Kennedy — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 08:01:27 +0000

UCD spinout OxyMem has been named in the 2015 Global Cleantech 100 for its innovative technology that reduces the costs of wastewater treatment.

Fashion and photography to play role as DCU researcher aims to clean up our environment

Claire O’Connell — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 10:44:58 +0000

Dr Jenny Lawler will follow the trail of plasticisers in landfill and waste and look at links with health, in an effort to make our environment safer.

2015: Weather at its weirdest

Gordon Hunt — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:23:36 +0000

The number of natural disasters in 2015 spiked above the global average, with storms, flooding, earthquakes and forest fires making for a grim year.

Climate change might have saved us from a new ice age

Colm Gorey — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 07:49:01 +0000

Somewhat controversially, you would have to say, a new research paper has been published that says that human-made climate change has prevented the onset of a new ice age.

Bad weather in 2015 ranks Ireland 3rd in wind energy usage

Colm Gorey — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 10:28:50 +0000

With all the news of Ireland’s bombardment with wind and rain in 2015, it's perhaps not surprising that it was enough to see us rise to third in the world rankings of countries that used wind energy to generate electricity.

Big bang artistry lets you see the observable universe in just one image

John Kennedy — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 10:04:52 +0000

An artist has created a single image of the observable universe using maps from Princeton University and satellite and telescope images from NASA.

SSE and Coillte sign €176m deal to build Ireland’s largest wind farm

Colm Gorey — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 17:39:57 +0000

A deal worth €176m has been signed between SSE and Coillte to construct the final stage of Galway Wind Park, the largest deal ever done for a single wind farm in Ireland.

Google solar powering up its Project Sunroof

Gordon Hunt — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 10:25:12 +0000

A few months after its release, Google’s solar power evaluation tool is already being expanded throughout the US – a global roll-out must only be a matter of time.

Irish energy white paper says it will take 100 years to go carbon-free

Colm Gorey — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 09:15:36 +0000

The Irish Government and the Minister for Energy Alex White has today (16 December) published the Government’s white paper on our aim of becoming a carbon-free society, but it will take us nearly 100 years.

Limerick company aims to make some waves with new tidal energy device

Colm Gorey — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:22:40 +0000

Ocean-based renewable energy, such as tidal energy, is increasingly being seen as Ireland’s best alternative renewable energy source, overtaking the more common wind energy. Now, a new string has been added to its bow, as Limerick is set to become home to the first OC1 device in Ireland.