So what you have is, you have a big atom and it’s split into two smaller atoms. And the main fuel is Uranium 235. It’s now a mature technology, and it’s used all over the world. In fact, France produces 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. There is one issue, of course, with nuclear, is to get rid of the waste disposal, the radioactive waste. This is a problem. But possibly in the future it could be used, because the advantage of nuclear is that it has practically no CO2 emissions. And the Sun is our biggest known nuclear reactor.
Just to leave you with some energy saving tips. You can quite clearly see them there. [Slide: Energy Saving Tips] You’ve probably been told about these before, I’m sure. I’ll just go on. I’m just going to show you a short video now.
Video of man in bowler hat: I think I was always misunderstood. People just didn’t seem to like me. They think I annoyed them. I got on their nerves. I don’t know why. That’s just the way it was. Yes, maybe I was too intense. Maybe I came on too strong. I don’t know. I really can’t say. Yes, it was lonely, really lonely. But you get used to it after a while. And then one day everything changed. Somebody finally accepted me for what I am. Since I have got this job life is completely different. I finally feel useful…good at something.
[Title: The Wind…his potential is ours – EPURON] [Applause]
Donna McCabe: We’re just going to do a quick Q&A. So we have some students here who are going to take questions. And if anybody would like to kick off with your question…
Question from audience: Everybody's saying there's going to be huge floods on the Earth and everything if we don't stop the [global warming]. How long do we have?
John Kirby: It’s very difficult to put an actual date on it. Because it depends on a number of factors. It mainly depends on how quick countries are to implement the changes and meet their targets. If the targets are achieved the probability of it happening is quite low. But it will affect certain areas more than others. Because low-lying countries will be affected by flooding. And Dublin could possibly be affected. It’s quite low-lying. But countries like Holland, Bangladesh, they could be affected in the short term if changes aren’t implemented now. So it’s very important that we act now on this and we make the necessary changes.
Question from audience: If you wanted to go on to study, would it be environmental science, or what would be the best subject you’d be looking to do at third level?
John Kirby: Well part of the Energy Needs Ireland group that were formed, they were engineering students. So maybe mechanical and electrical engineer – electrical engineering, well you’ll study a lot of renewable energy. But I mean I know people studying commerce, and some of their final year projects are to do with renewable energy and the cost of it. And there’s a PhD student working at the research centre, who got a degree in commerce. But now she’s working in energy. So there’s many sectors involved in energy at the moment.
Question from audience: You said the power grid needs to be upgraded. What’s currently wrong with it?
Sheila Nolan: It’s old. And it hasn’t got enough capacity. So if we put more wind turbines, say on the west coast, there’s not enough transmission line to bring all that power across. So we’re going to need to have stronger cables to bring all the electricity across.
Question from audience: We are doing a project in Young Scientist about making power from seaweed. How does that compare to hydro-electric power, hydro energy?
John Kirby: Compared to hydro-electric power?
Question from audience: Yes, or like solar power? [unclear]
John Kirby: I am sure that’s Sheila [unclear]
Sheila Nolan: I think you’d need an awful, awful, awful lot of seaweed to get enough energy to use for electricity. You’d need huge amounts of it.
John Kirby: There’s research going on into that at the moment, to derive energy from say algae and other things in the sea. But using seaweed, it hasn’t been known to be that efficient so far. But possibly in the future it could be developed.
Question from audience: How much does Ireland contribute to the damage of the ozone layer?
John Kirby: Ireland has relatively small industry. If you look at other countries they’ve a lot of industry. And they’re going to produce a lot of carbon dioxide. So relative to other countries Ireland is quite small. But it’s also very important that Ireland meets these targets. Because they’re EU targets and so they’re implemented from the EU. We must meet them. Every little small difference will make a difference to the overall picture in the end.
Student: China is the largest emitter of CO2, followed by the United States. And India is close…is developing towards that as well.
Question from audience: Is this building solar powered?
Student: No, I don’t think so.
John Kirby: I don’t think so. I don’t know.
Sheila Nolan: No.
Question from audience: How much energy does Ireland use every year?
John Kirby: How much energy does Ireland use every year? 100 terawatt hours. I’m not sure if you’d be familiar with that.
Sheila Nolan: That’s an awful lot, yeah.
Question from audience: How long have we been depending on fossil fuels?
John Kirby: Well we’ve always used fossil fuels to generate heat. But since the industrial revolution it’s mainly the reason – when global warming and the use of fossil fuels escalated. So if you looked at a graph of the atmospheric concentration of CO2 what you’d find is, at the point of when the industrial revolution started in the 1800s the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere went right up. So the problem really started around then.
Question from audience: How much wind can we put on the Irish system?
John Kirby: By 2020 I would say there’ll be 4,000 more megawatts of wind power come on. I think that would be adding about 40% then. I think at the moment that’s not done anywhere else. So that’ll probably be around our limit, for 2020 that. But beyond that it’s possible that it could go up to maybe 60%.
Question from audience: My friend, Aileen, is a bit shy. But she was wondering when is the Sun going to die? [Laughter]
Sheila Nolan: In about seventy billion years, so nothing to worry about. [Applause]
Aoife Cannon: Hi, it’s great to see there’s so much interest. And I would say we could be here for another hour with loads of questions. My name is Aoife Cannon and I run the education programme at Sustainable Energy Ireland. Sheila mentioned earlier in her talk that we run a secondary schools project. I would like to now show you a DVD about that project.
Video
Narrator: What is the Power of One? The Power of One aims to highlight the many simple changes we can make to become more energy efficient. If each of us becomes aware of our own power when it comes to energy efficiency, and uses it properly, we can collectively make a big difference to ourselves, our pockets and the environment. All we have to do is recognise our power and use it. That’s what the Power of One is all about. What is Change? The Change campaign is Ireland’s plan of action on climate change. The campaign’s overriding goal is to engage the nation on the issue, and to drive the significant behavioural changes required to lower greenhouse gas emissions. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when we look at the big picture. Our knee-jerk response is, ‘But what can I do?’ Well the answer is, quite a lot. Look at your own behaviour. Look at the people around you. And try to influence change. The Power of One Good Idea. Countless students, teachers and Principals across Ireland expressed the desire to run their own Power of One programme. From that seed the Power of One Good Idea Project was born. So how does it work? You are asked to research, design and run a campaign, to raise awareness of the things that everybody can do to use energy more efficiently and tackle climate change. As citizens we have a responsibility to care for the planet, for ourselves and for future generations. You can focus your campaign on one of three target groups – adults in your community, your peers in school around you, or primary school students locally. So where do you start? Firstly, team up. Teams consist of two to six students. But you must all be in the same year. Remember this project is not just about science and geography. It’s also about business, art, drama, music and CSPE. Next, check out your pack on the website. They’re full of helpful tips and information on how to plan and deliver a great campaign. Once you have everything you need, it’s time to get researching. Look at the range of topics that you can choose from. Our website will give you more information on each one. You might see one that interests you straight away. Or you may need to dig deeper before you decide. Once you have agreed your topic, you need to find out as much as you can. Use books, magazines and the internet to get more background information. Think about the target audience which most suits your topic. Now you need to do some action research. Find out what people know about your topic by asking them. One way to do this is to create a survey. Think about the right questions to ask and when are you going to do it.
Student [still in video]: We did a survey.
Student: I did a survey from Newbridge.
Student: We carried out questionnaires on adults and people in our own school.
Student: This actually showed us what they know. Because if you don’t actually find out what they know then you can’t help them.
Narrator: You will find plenty of information about creating surveys and other research methods on our website [Screen: http://www.sei.ie/onegoodidea]. Remember to keep it short and ask lots of people. For primary school children keep the questions and answers very simple. Pull together all your answers and look at your results. A survey will help you decide what your campaign message should be. Surveys tell you what your target audience needs to know, and how you can help them become more energy efficient. Now that you’ve realised what issues affect your target audience, next get creative. We are looking for the most innovative and imaginative campaigns. Choose your campaign name, design a logo and build your brand. And figure out how to communicate your message. Remember to match your method with your audience. For a younger audience you could write songs, perform a puppet show or play, make up fun energy-related games, design a comic strip or create a splash with public art. For your peers or your community, why not make a film, run a concert, have a table quiz, run a poster campaign, produce a magazine, have a coffee morning, run a radio campaign or create public debate by designing a leaflet explaining how a family can become energy efficient, asking people to pledge to make one change. Don’t forget to keep a record of everything you do, photo, video and artwork to show the judges. Make sure to take a photo that you think symbolises your campaign and send it in as part of your submission. These photos will be entered into the Life Through a Lens photo competition, giving you an extra chance to win prizes. Your photo will be featured in the 2010 calendar which will be sent to every school in the country. When you’ve finished your campaign, pull together everything you’ve done, research, video, photos and artwork. Fill out the application form and send us your work before the deadline in March. You could make it to the national finals. Twenty of the best campaigns from around Ireland will be selected to compete in the national final in Dublin. Students create an exhibition of their work especially for the awards and present their campaign to the judges. Judges look for well-planned, creative and effective campaigns. Log on to the One Good Idea website [Screen: http://www.sei.ie/onegoodidea] where you’ll find plenty of helpful links and regular updates. You can also contact the One Good Idea helpline, or email us. Remember it’s all about small things that collectively make a big difference - your One Good Idea. We look forward to seeing your projects and meeting some of you at the final. So good luck.
[Applause]
Aoife Cannon: Now you’ve seen the DVD and you’ve had the talk on energy, so you’re in a very good place to register for the project. I look forward to receiving lots of entrants from all your schools. We’re now going to divide you up into groups so that you can come down and have a look at the models - what we have here. Before we do I’d like to thank you all for attending and for your interest in today’s presentation. And I’d like to say a special word of thanks to our Energy Needs Ireland students, to their lecturer Mark O’Malley, to Dr Ciara O’Connor, who has managed them through this project, Dave Gibbons. And particularly to John Kirby and to Sheila Nolan, who have put in a lot of hard work on this presentation and on the talk. So I would like you to show them your appreciation. [Applause]
Student: [Slide: Photo - Demonstration Model – renewable energy sources] Electricity is transmitted from a large-scale wind turbine which could be a wind farm to a house through the electricity pole we have there. And that’s our well-insulated hot water tank. And the white box with the green light on the front is representation of a geothermal heat system. As John was saying, it takes heat from below the ground and it uses it to heat the home through underfloor heating. Just beside the door there, you can see behind the door. And the blue thing you can see on the right is a washing machine, we decided to include as well. d it also lights up. So the wind turbine is actually giving electricity to the house. And that’s a final photo. [Slide: Photo – Demonstration Model – renewable energy sources] The black square – it’s an air ventilation unit which keeps air coming in and out of the house. And if you have any question, it’s really a demonstration model. So please come down and look and ask questions. Thank you very much. [Applause]
[Students investigating demonstration model]
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