Energy Transition in Europe | www.energy-cities.eu

As Britain Brexits, Ireland stalls on climate action. Meanwhile, the EU is Ireland’s only pressure point for moving on climate while under the expansive shadow of Brexit.

The Irish OASC cities Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Limerick have been working together for the last two years to establish a common ground among the cities’ smart initiatives.
One of the most tangible results of the collaboration is the so-called adaptive smart traffic system that aims at alleviating traffic and at the same time reducing noise and air pollution by use of IoT-enabled smart city technology. This project has been recently awarded with the Smart 50 Award in the category energy and has been established on commonly defined demands in the four cities.
The four cities are forming OASC Ireland, a joint effort that drives the exchange of best practices and collaboration both in terms of technology deployment to solve challenges within the city, but also to improve policy and e-government activities.
Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Limerick have been working collaboratively with a number of public institutions and industry partners on solutions based on Internet of Things (IoT) for cities, from the early planning phase of the project to the analysis of the data collected.
Dr Martin Serrano, IoT Unit Director at Insight and OASC Ireland coordinator, said: “This project has motivated the Irish OASC cities – Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick – to join forces for the first time across the cities’ administrative and technical offices. It also raised awareness of how IoT technologies can help solve challenges in the city.”

The Republic of Ireland will become the world’s first country to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies, after a bill was passed with all-party support in the lower house of parliament.

The state’s €8bn national investment fund will be required to sell all investments in coal, oil, gas and peat “as soon as is practicable”, which is expected to mean within five years. Norway’s huge $1tn sovereign wealth fund has only partially divested from fossil fuels, targeting some coal companies, and is still considering its oil and gas holdings.