Displaying items by tag: Éire Composites

Q: Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

17th July 2023

Connemara Firm Teams With Galway University to Develop Technology for Greener Shipping

An industrial design company in Connemara has announced its partnership with the University of Galway for a new project that aims for a greener shipping industry by using lightweight material to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Over the next two years of the FASTSHIP project, ÉireComposites will lead development and manufacturing of composite components that can reduce drag on ships, thereby cutting fuel usage.

The University of Galway, meanwhile, will take charge of analysis and testing of the prototypes, using its own BladeComp software to optimise the designs.

The two parties also aim to optimise the manufacturing process for ensuring large volume production at reduced costs.

The Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) and the Marine Institute are providing almost €600,000 of funding to the project, under the SEAI National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Funding Programme 2022.

Kerrie Sheehan, head of R&D at SEAI said: “Maritime transport plays an essential role in Ireland as an island nation and SEAI recognise the need to invest in research that will contribute to achieving emissions reductions in this sector and our 2030 overall targets.”

Veronica Cunningham, research funding office manager at the Marine Institute added: “The Irish maritime sector, in line with the sector across Europe, is seeking ways to decarbonise operations, reduce greenhouse gases emissions and increase the use of low-carbon and renewable fuels to replace fossil fuels for shipping.

“The FASTSHIP project will develop a solution that can be retrofitted to existing vessels or designed into new ships, with a significant reduction in fuel consumption and consequently decreasing vessel carbon emissions and shipping costs.”

Published in Ports & Shipping

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Connemara Company Secures €3m from EU to Design Marine Turbine from Recycled Materials

A Connemara company has secured €3 million from the European Commission to research and design a marine turbine that uses recycled materials for the first time.

As The Times Ireland edition reports, designers at ÉireComposites in Indreabhán, Co Galway, believe their marine hydrokinetic power system can produce clean energy reliably at a reduced cost.

It will work with partners including marine renewable energy specialists Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC), NUI Galway, Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials in Germany and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, the Italian state research company.

A graphic of the RivGen device deployed

Total value of the project is €3.9m, of which some €3m has been awarded to the Irish design team.

RivGen Power System in 2019 at Igiugig, Alaska

Tomás Flanagan, chief executive officer at ÉireComposites, said the aim is to use recycled carbon fibre for a “mini” version of a larger turbine that ORPC will build.

The RivGen device operating in the Alaskan Kvichak River in April 2020

He says that marine turbine systems can harvest a potential 615 terawatt-hours per year from tidal streams, ocean currents and river currents – as in approximately 21 times Ireland’s annual electricity use.

Named “Crimson”, as in “Commercialisation of a Recyclable and Innovative Manufacturing Solution for an Optimised Novel”, the turbine project is being supported by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation programme.

An aerial view of the RivGen device operating in the Kvichak River, in Alaska in August 2019

ÉireComposites has already worked with ORPC, which has headquarters in Portland, Maine, USA and a base in Ireland, on previous turbine design projects.

These include ORPC’s first commercial river generation power system, installed in Igiugig, Alaska, to provide a remote community with local energy from the Kvichak river.

The Connemara company is one of 16 partners in seven countries in the EU-funded Marewind project to design the next generation of offshore wind turbines.

It also recently secured a contract to design and manufacture equipment for the European Space Agency’s Altius satellite, which is due to be launched from French Guiana in 2023

Read The Times Ireland here

Published in Power From the Sea

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Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities.

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

What is marine leisure tourism?

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

What marine leisure tourism studies have been conducted in Ireland?

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

What were the results of the NUI marine leisure tourism study?

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.