Economics

A collection of economics related stories

Eco-smart prefabs

INVESTMENT CONSTRUCTION:A SAN FRANCISCO- based firm that makes cheap, energy-efficient prefabricated buildings has received its first tranche of funding from clean technology fund RockPort Capital Partners.

The venture capital firm invested $4 million in Project Frog (flexible response to ongoing growth) which will help to finance product development and sales.

Its smart building products are more efficiently manufactured, installed and operated than conventional structures, the company claims, and are suited to education, commercial and retail uses.

They are made of recyclable or renewable materials and are engineered to incorporate abundant natural light and high indoor air quality, with no volatile compounds used. Energy-efficient heating and cooling systems are used along with "living roofs" and solar panels that can produce more energy than the building uses.

Swede deal for wave farms on west coast

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY WAVE POWER: SWEDISH energy giant Vattenfall has become the first major power company to demonstrate a clear intention to develop wave farms in Irish waters.

Last month, the firm paid €500,000 for a 51 per cent share in Pandion, an ocean energy site-development company. Maynooth-based wave energy company Wavebob holds the remaining 49 per cent stake and the agreement brings opportunities for further industry partners to participate in the venture.

Pandion has applied for ocean energy sites on the west coast of Ireland. The sites will be developed for commercial-scale trials generating over 250MW of electricity when it is technically and economically viable. A development of this size would represent an investment of up to €250 million, eventually powering up to 120,000 homes.

"Ocean energy has large potential to contribute to the implementation of Vattenfall's vision to be climate neutral by 2050. It is important for us to reach our growth targets, which are based on renewables, nuclear power and coal with carbon-capture technology," said Lars G Josefsson, president and chief executive of Vattenfall.

Helmar Rendez, company senior vice-president, added: "We intend to stimulate the development of the ocean energy market as well as its technical development . . . The technologies must be further developed and optimised, and the power-system concepts need to be integrated before ocean energy becomes fully commercially viable."

The move by Vattenfall is expected to attract further interest from other players in wave and tidal energy, such as Singapore-based Atlantic Resources Corporation, whose chief executive recently expressed an interest in opportunities in Ireland.

In related news, two industry giants - French power company EDF and Britain's jet engine and engineering developers Rolls-Royce - have become part of a consortium that will undertake research on ocean energy at a new Energy Technologies Institute and at Plymouth's Marine Laboratory.

They will help evaluate how wave and tidal turbines can best avoid accumulating marine seaweed and sea creatures such as barnacles, which would hamper their performance and ability to generate electricity.

New form of cement to absorb carbon dioxide

EMISSIONS BUILDING MATERIALS: A TEAM of British engineers claims to have developed a new form of cement that absorbs carbon dioxide.

The cement industry, which is currently responsible for 5 per cent of the world's CO2 emissions, could change from being a "significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2", says Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based Novacem, whose invention has garnered support and funding from industry and environmentalists.

Two billion tonnes of cement are used globally every year, and demand is set to increase by 50 per cent by 2020 according to one estimate.

Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from the intense heat needed to cook the raw material, such as limestone, which then releases further CO2.

Novacem's cement, based on magnesium silicates, requires less heating and absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens. Its product can absorb, over its life cycle, around 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement. This compares to carbon emissions of about 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of standard cement.

Novacem was set up by Vlasopoulos and his colleagues at Imperial College London and has already attracted the attention of major construction companies such as Rio Tinto Minerals, WSP Group and Laing O'Rourke; investors include the Carbon Trust.

If tests prove the cement suitable for use in large-scale construction projects, Vlasopoulos expects it to be on the market within five years.