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Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Finding Nemo link at end of the line 7 Eldred Terrace
NO 7 Eldred Terrace, the end of a line on Cork City's main Douglas Road, has had a chequered past but, now, after a full internal refurb, looks like having a brighter, steadier future. Dating to the late 1800s, the three-storey late Victorian era home came into the ownership of the Department of Defence in the mid 20th century, when it formed part of a FCA facility for drilling and training volunteers as an auxiliary defence force — the FCA is now folded into the Army Reserve. Former Nemo Rangers GAA lands between the two Douglas roads with Eldred Terrace top right Later, coming to the height of the boom, No 7 was bought by Fleming Construction as part of a major land assembly by Fleming Construction that included a c €7m deal with GAA club Nemo Rangers, which had pitches behind Eldred Terrace, between the main and south Douglas Roads and Cross Douglas Road. Nemo relocated to elaborate new facilities at Trabeg, Douglas, in 2007. Plans were drawn up by Fleming Construction for a major residential scheme of several hundred homes to be accessed here off the main Douglas Road (but a plan to demolish mid-terraced houses by Bellair Estate junction for access came to naught) and Fleming's former Nemo site sold for €2.85m in 2013, along with 7 Eldred Terrace, to a company Dildar linked to developer Paul Kenny. Eldred Terrace The Price Register shows No 7 Eldred Terrace selling in 2013 for €150,000. It would have been in a raw condition then, and for much of the following decade, until getting a major overhaul, and modest rear extension, within the past year. The Nemo/Fleming/Dildar site behind had planning applied for and granted over 200 units, mainly apartments, with the last application due a decision by 2023 and the site's ownership also become involved in a legal issue in 2024, with some site activity visible on it currently. Meanwhile, 7 Eldred Terrace appears ready to cut ties with its rather complicated recent past and property market ups and downs, having come for sale with a price guide of €795,000 in an 'as-new' condition, with a B2 BER, and is already over that in offers with estate agent Niall Cahalane of Cahalane Skuse who says his vendor is a company. Rear view No 7 No 4 Eldred Terrace is the only recent previous sale showing on the Price Register since 2010, and it sold in 2021 for a recorded €335,000, above the €315,000 AMV it had carried as an older-style, F-BER rated 1,770 sq ft three-storey with rear access. No 7 is shiny new in looks and feel inside, with slight rear kitchen/family living extension. It has four bedrooms, two per upper floor with one en suite and each level has a bathroom. It's in ready to furnish condition, with flooring, bathrooms, tiling, built-ins and kitchen all in situ. It has an enclosed front garden with original cast iron rails which form an important feature of the row of seven houses at Eldred Terrace, which goes east back to the Cross Douglas Road junction. It has a side entrance to a set-back area used by residents for car parking, with a separate gate access to the compact enclosed rear garden and patio by where future new development on the Nemo lands may come in time. Auctioneer Niall Cahalane says No 7 has two reserved car parking spaces. VERDICT: No 7 is now end of the line, in more ways than one.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Heat pump sales in Europe fall 23% to pre-Ukraine war levels
Heat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers. Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market. The only country to buck the trend was the UK, where sales rose 63% between 2023 and 2024. Heat pumps, which warm rooms using the same technology that fridges use to chill food, are seen as key tools to reduce reliance on foreign gas and stop global heating. The once-obscure devices experienced a surge in popularity in Europe after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices soaring. 'The very strong growth that appeared in 2022 and 2023 – war-related and gas price-related – didn't have a foundation in robust policy,' said Paul Kenny, director general of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA). He added: 'One would think in Europe – with the enemy at the gates, and energy security and energy sovereignty so important in political minds – our policymakers would take the sort of actions that society needs.' The EHPA said the fall in sales in 2024 was driven by political uncertainty and changes to support schemes in a handful of key markets, as well as a sluggish economy leading to an overall drop in heating installations. Analysts said the shift could be a rebound effect after two unusually good years for the industry but struggled to explain the scale of the drop. Two million heat pumps were sold in 2024 – the same as in 2021 – despite high gas prices and security fears continuing to plague Europe. 'It's just surprising given that the gas crisis isn't over,' said Jess Ralston from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a thinktank. 'It's really uncertain times, and a slowdown in heat pumps isn't going to do any good for energy security.' She added: 'Unless we start to move to heat pumps, we're just going to see more volatility – in household bills as well as wholesale gas prices.' Heat pumps cost more upfront than gas boilers but are usually cheaper to run, and result in fewer societal costs from dirty air and violent weather. The International Energy Agency's roadmap to greening the economy as fast as world leaders have promised shows the share of heat pumps in global sales of heating equipment soaring from 10% in 2022 to 50% in 2026. In markets such as Germany and the UK, the devices have also been the focus of intense disinformation campaigns that authorities are only starting to challenge. The slump has also hit manufacturers. The EHPA said the heat pump sector has invested billions in additional capacity since the start of the war but 'much of this capacity now lies idle'. It estimated at least 4,000 jobs have been cut, and a further 6,000 workers face reduced hours or other impacts. It called on the European Commission and national governments to put heat pumps at the centre of the clean industrial deal next week, which seeks to align the EU's climate, competitiveness and geopolitics goals. Kenny said the fall in sales was a 'lost opportunity' for Europe. 'Without the heat pump, we don't get away from Russian gas, or American gas, or anyone else's gas.'
Euronews
31-01-2025
- Business
- Euronews
From paper to pasta: Industrial heat pumps have the power to cut 25% of EU manufacturing emissions
The EU's industry could cut a quarter of its CO2 emissions using heat pumps, according to the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA). If the heat pump technology available today was fully rolled out, the association says it could already supply 37 per cent of the industry's process heat - thermal energy used in industrial manufacturing processes. This rollout would see Europe's industrial sector save up to 146 million tonnes of CO2 annually or 24 per cent of its current emissions. That is a saving bigger than the annual emissions of Czechia. 'Europe needs competitive and sustainable industry - and large-scale heat pumps are key,' explains Paul Kenny, EHPA Director General. 'The technology is already delivering reliable heat, cost savings and affordable energy in manufacturing processes from paper to pasta, and this can and must increase.' What manufacturing processes can industrial heat pumps be used for? More than 60 per cent of the energy used by European industry is used for heat, according to the EPHA. The bulk of this demand (66 per cent) for heat comes from process heating or the use of thermal energy in manufacturing. Almost 80 per cent of this energy traditionally comes from fossil fuels. Currently, just 3 per cent comes from renewable electricity and 11 per cent from biomass. Decarbonising heat energy requirements by 2050 is a priority to meet current EU emissions targets. Industrial heat pumps can reach temperatures of up to 200C, which means they can be used for processes that require lower temperatures. Of the total heat energy demand from process heat, 37 per cent is from manufacturing that requires temperatures lower than 200C. That includes things like brewing beer, dairy processing, and paper manufacturing. The Wepa Greenfield paper factory in Château-Thierry in France, for example, uses a heat pump to dry paper pulp. A project partially funded by the French government sees 70C waste heat from the dryer converted into 140C by a heat pump - enough to dry the paper pulp. Why aren't companies already using heat pumps? While around 16 per cent of heating in the EU's residential and commercial buildings now comes from heat pumps, there's currently no comprehensive data on how many companies have adopted the technology for industrial processes. There are still a number of barriers to increasing heat pump uptake - including a lack of awareness about their potential. Upfront costs, too, can prevent companies from switching. Nearly all European countries offer financial subsidies or support for companies that want to invest in an industrial-sized heat pump. A survey by EPHA found that among 24 EU states - including Norway and Switzerland - help is available in the form of grants, loans, or tax rebates. The EU's proposed Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act aims to speed up the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries. It wants to do this by streamlining procedures for clean tech permits, facilitating investment in cleaner solutions, and supporting the development of green markets. The EPHA believes more focus should be placed on research, regulation and information sharing to ensure heat pumps are a key part of this plan.
