Marc O Riain explores how policy on both side of the Atlantic in the 1980s sabotaged a nascent revolution in renewables and energy conservation.

Millenarian doom-mongering or wave of the future? You decide.

On a day when world record oil prices were again surpassed (see here ), Microsoft has launched a new technology (see here ) which it says could cut over two million tonnes of CO2 every year - about the same emissions as the Poolbeg power station, or 392,000 mid-sized cars.

As oil prices surge and the need to rapidly switch to energy sources that are secure and environmentally friendly becomes increasingly apparent, more and more Irish people are tapping into the renewable energy resources at their disposal. But are the Government giving people the incentive to make the switch?