Episode 05

(Eco Eye s4/e5)

Water Conservation in the Home: We take our water for granted and assume there is an endless supply, but unfortunately it’s being squandered. We had great fun asking people how much water they use – and their answers were amazing! We visit a young Dublin family with 3 children to find out how much water they consume. We metered their water supply for 1 week and shocked them with the results. The family were also interested in conserving water so we introduced them to Dublin City Councils ’Tap Tips’ campaign. Dublin will face water shortages in the near future during summer droughts unless we all make some efforts to reduce our consumption and waste. Power showers, baths, power garden hoses and leaks are the main culprits. The average Irish person uses a whopping 148 litres of water a day.

Energy Crops for Bio-fuels: Ireland is facing a petrol and diesel crisis. With the uncertainty of future supplies, rising fuel costs and CO2 emissions, there is an urgent need to switch from these finite fossil fuels to homegrown bio-fuels. We visit Teagasc at Oakpark, Carlow, to see how farmers can diversify into this rapidly growing enterprise.

We see the different types of energy crops that can be grown in Ireland. These include biomass crops (short-rotation coppice willow, hemp, miscanthus and straw) – pellets for heat energy, and liquid bio-fuels and bio-diesel for transport. They show us how these crops can be converted into cost-effective, CO2 neutral fuels to replace conventional diesel – with no loss of performance.

We learn how easy it is for standard diesel cars to be converted. One hectare of rape seed will supply the average car with enough bio-diesel to travel 20,000 km (i.e. one year’s supply). There are great opportunities for farmers especially with subsidies coming off food products. There are cost-savings for car drivers, and the environment benefits by reductions in CO2 and other emissions. This will also reduce our current over-dependency on imported fuels.

Illegal Waste in Ireland: In the last 10 years Ireland’s waste problem has grown enormously. This is due to economic growth, affluence and the building boom. We have seen widespread and blatant illegal dumping and, like drugs trafficking, huge profits from racketeering. This has caused irreversible damage to many remote and scenic locations, – natural habitats, rivers, aquifers and ground water. This criminal activity caused a major public outcry and in response, the EU imposed heavy fines on Ireland. The large-scale illegal landfill sites which operated up to 2002 – in quarries and private farmland, in places like Wicklow – have been discovered. Currently the Director of Public Prosecution is proceeding against these in the higher courts. The big issue now is fly-tipping, which operates on a smaller scale, but is more widespread. This dumping occurs in remote and scenic areas close to urban centres. The ‘man-in-the-van’ takes waste at a reduced cost and operates without a permit and illegally disposes of construction, demolition and household waste. Another problem area is backyard-burning, where huge emissions of dioxins are being released that locally contaminate grass – for milk production – and crops. To effectively tackle this, the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement has set up and co-ordinates a new Environmental Enforcement Network, which includes all Local Authorities and the Gardai.