Attended the Dublin Chamber of Commerce annual GREEN ECONOMY conference yesterday. It was hosted by solicitors Byrne Wallace, Grand Canal Square.
The opening address was given by Pat Rabbitte TD. Mr Rabbitte declared the government’s full support for both ENERGY EFFICIENCY measures and ALTERNATIVE ENERGY installations, both to new and retro fit. Given the state of the public purse I was slightly baffled by his enthusiasm but then it struck me. Does he mean to impose mandatory upgrading onto all of us instead of the familiar grant aid? Carrot and stick without the carrot.

The reason I think so is to do with the next speaker. Mr. Roderic van Voorst representing the EUROPEAN COMMISSION began by praising the good work that Ireland has done so far in working towards meeting our emissions targets. However, he did end by saying that it was a case of “a lot done, more to do” and underlined it all by issuing a THREAT that the commission will not hesitate to take legal action against any member state which fails to meet their targets. Nice.

Back to Pat Rabbitte, and mindful of the Roderic van Voorst address, perhaps it’s not so farfetched to believe that the “thou shalt” and the “thou shalt not” brigade will soon enact some more energy efficiency legislation. Any views?

What’s all this to do with GREENBEAN? Well, if carbon credits or legislation are applied to businesses in Ireland rest assured that both the Roast House in Dundalk and the Barista Training School/Coffee Shop in Banbridge whereas they’re not exactly carbon neutral (yet!) they are both much more carbon friendly than the vast majority of our competitors. The Roast House can boast the following;

1. Rainwater harvesting system

2. Coffee roaster emissions water filter

3. Electricity from wind power (through one of the providers)

4. Our own installed photo voltaic array of panels. This is a unique product which runs all our computers and ancillary equipment using sun power ABSOLUTLY FREE! (Courtesy of INSTANT SOLAR COMPANY).

In fact, other than the gas used for the two coffee roasters (and one of them is powered by Natural Gas) ALL THE ROAST HOUSE ENERGY COMES FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES.

The Banbridge shop also uses electricity created by wind power so except from the Propane gas used in the kitchen GREENBEAN IS CARBON NEUTRAL IN BANBRIDGE.