Displaying items by tag: Greenblades

10th July 2019

Greenblades Allows Public to Support Up-and-Coming Rowers

Tokyo-Bound: the Ireland junior men's coxed four

#Rowing: Rowing Ireland has launched Greenblades, an initiative to help fund the junior, under 23 and development teams by means of donations. Currently, development rowers often call heavily on support from their families, as well as Rowing Ireland and whatever other funding they can muster.

It takes a lot to be an international rower and stars like Sanita Puspure, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan have been supported in their development before they reached the top level in the world.

Rowing Ireland says that Greenblades will ensure that athletes who are representing Ireland will be supported to reach their full potential so that they can compete at the highest level possible.

Rowing Ireland’s chief executive, Michelle Carpenter said: “It is key that we do everything to support our up-and-coming athletes as we prepare to successfully support their future careers by giving them the opportunity to row in Paris [the 2024 Olympic Games] and beyond.

She said that the athletes are the future of Irish rowing. Consideraton must be give to the next two years, but also the next four and eight years.

“Rowing should be accessible to everyone who wants to compete, be it at domestic or high-performance level,” Carpenter added.

Rowing Ireland says that all donations will go directly to the athletes who will be competing at the World Under-23 Championships in Florida and the World Junior Championships in Tokyo.

Donations can be made at greenblades.ie

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

The Irish Government's target to install 5,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in our maritime area by 2030 is set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. It also has the objective to source 80% of Ireland’s electricity needs from renewables by the same year. In line with this, ESB is applying its professional and proven engineering expertise to the challenges set within the Climate Action Plan.

ESB are committed to playing a strong role in developing Ireland’s offshore wind potential for the benefit of the people of Ireland. This will be done in consultation with marine users and local communities, and with due care for the marine environment.