MAY SUSTAINABLE CLON MEETING

MAY SUSTAINABLE CLON MEETING

Around 30 people attended the May open public meeting of Sustainable Clonakilty at O’ Donovan’s Hotel, which had three different topics with related local experts as the programme for the night.

First up were the three Transition Year girls from Sacred Heart Secondary School who have come to national attention for their Sea Lettuce Briquettes project. Muireasa Carroll, Denise Hurley and Mairéad Kingston got third prize at this years BT Young Scientist in the Biological and Ecological section. Over the course of last autumn, they collected fresh sea lettuce that was coming ashore in abundance at local beaches. They explained how they washed it out, compacted it into briquettes with the hand-operated appliances readily available in hardware stores for making newspaper briquettes, and allowed the briquettes to dry out for a week in an airy greenhouse. They then carried out numerous experiments, and found that the “Algabrix” they created burn twice as long as the standard peat equivalent and gives out three times as much heat. They have patented their product. They explained that by collecting the sea lettuce while fresh, there are no gases and it’s carbon neutral, as being a living plant it takes in CO2 from the atmosphere. Therefore it has no negative impact on the environment. The three girls are heading for Shenzin in China in July to showcase the Algabrix at the International Youth Science and Technological Expo there. Muireasa, Denise and Mairead will be heading into 5^th year after the summer holidays, received a generous applause for their presentation.

Next up was Paddy Rose, MD of local company Progressive Solar Heating Ltd. With the aid of slides Paddy explained the different models of solar panels, and the basic principals of how they work to provide heat and hot water for households. He advised people thinking about installing a system, to get the best possible advice and company, saying there are some operators who really don’t do the best job. One basic principal, while it may sound obvious, is that solar panels to work effectively, must face the sun. He revealed how he had been called to look at some systems installed by companies who had placed the panels at the back of the houses. While they were out of sight aesthetically for the eye, they were in effect useless for the job they were designed as they received little sun to create the energy. Paddy also predicted that in time to come, electricity will be generated also from solar panels on domestic dwellings.

Last but not least, Consultant Robbie Lambert who is an expert on many sustainable issues spoke about the different type of lighting. He introduced his talk by saying lighting is now just about giving light for the situation, different colour light is used in different situations and it affects the human mood. He outlined various types of bulbs and lighting systems from the standard family home, to street lighting to flood lighting used on sports grounds. He advised that having sensors for outdoor security lighting was the most energy efficient and also effective. He also pointed out the down sides of some new products, where people are changing over from the standard type. Very often, it requires the changing of the whole fitting, which can be expensive and in some cases, messy in a finished house.. But he said in an average home they would pay back for themselves in about two years. He also said he was doing a lot of business with China in developing new lines, and was also working with a number of local authorities in relation to future public lighting, and how new systems are more energy efficient and cost effective. All in all the audience got a good variety of things to think about as they went home and showed their appreciation and interest with many questions coming from the floor during the course of the evening.