The European Commission has approved funding for 14 new research projects with the stated aim of shaping a more resource-efficient economy in Europe. The projects, which involve the collaboration of over 140 partners from research organisations and private companies, will tackle the challenges of recycling waste materials from manufactured products and the agricultural sector to...

Farmers have collaborated with scientists in France to evaluate agri-environmental measures that reduce soil erosion and surface water pollution at a catchment level. The exercise helped the farmers understand the benefits of the measures and provides an example of how policymakers could engage with stakeholders under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The farmers helped develop...

The European Commission has announced the final and biggest ever set of calls for proposals for research under its Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). €8.1 billion will support projects and ideas that will boost Europe’s competitiveness and tackle issues such as human health, protecting the environment and finding new solutions to growing challenges linked to urbanisation and...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a number of statutory roles which include: Licensing, enforcement, monitoring and research Communicating information about the quality of Ireland’s environment. The EPA is conducting a survey is to assess its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in communicating environmental information to its stakeholders.  http://epa.ie/

The Advisory Council on Science, Technology and Innovation (ACSTI) made a series of recommendations on how best to support research centres in Ireland with a view to optimising future potential social and economic returns from State investments in research, development and Innovation (RD&I). The report, entitled, Sustainability of Research Centres, looks at the makeup and...

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have built a prototype device which they say can generate electricity from waste water and simultaneously treat the water. Reverse electrodialysis (RED) technology was developed in the Netherlands and other countries. Fresh water and seawater are placed in intermittent chambers separated by membranes, and an electrochemical charge is created. Researchers...