Bund Integrity Reports
When a new model of a car release on to the market, the competitors will get their hands on one and take it to pieces to see what new can be learned. We do the same with our competitors' reports. With bund integrity reports, we have recently been surprised at the...
Dual-Flush Toilets & Waste Water
Dual-flush toilets were introduced as a water saving solution but in practise, they cause massive waste of water Water saving techniques have become increasingly important as countries confront water shortages. Because toilet flushing accounts for 30% of domestic...
Electric Vehicles: New Approach Needed
The government's target for one million EVs on the country roads is not credible according to many experts. If this target is going to be missed (and the government's record to date on any EV target is poor) then we need a better target. The Problem The majority of...
Legionella in Schools
Legionella could lurk in the water supplies of school buildings, and some measures to keep people in schools safe from coronavirus may even increase risks from deadly illnesses caused by the bacteria. Legionella, usually Legionella pneumophila, is the bacteria that...
A Brief Review of the Beirut Explosion and Ammonium Nitrate storage
Unfortunate events in Beirut on the 4th of August 2020 shone a light once again on the extreme dangers of Ammonium nitrate storage. This incident is the fourteenth known industrial Ammonium nitrate disaster since the deadly fertiliser factory explosion in Toulouse,...
Government still facilitating the use of fossil fuelled boilers
I was recently surprised to see a Request for Tender (RFT) for a replacement of old school boiler by yet another fossil fuelled boiler. This RFT was on the Irish Office of Government Procurement website last week and was for a primary school in a rural area of Co....
Barriers to the Adoption of Electric Vehicles
According to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), while sales of fossil-fuelled passenger vehicles are set to fall globally by 15% in 2020, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are likely to remain steady. It will result in an increasing proportion...
Norilsk Oil Spill and The Necessity for Proper Planning and Bund Design
As headlines about systemic racism and a coronavirus pandemic occupy the news, other significant events have been pushed to the back pages. Just a few months ago, images of 22,000 tonnes of oil spilling into the Arctic circle would have been major news. 16,500 tonnes...
Return to Work and Legionella
With many offices and workplaces preparing for staff returning to work over the coming, managers will be anxious to manage the risks associated with this. A hazard that may be overlooked by workplaces is that of Legionella. Legionella can cause Legionnaires disease,...