Nationally, the agri-food sector employs 20% of Ireland’s total workforce and last year generated export sales of over €9bn. The Farm Invention Competition recognises the importance of the agri-food sector to the Irish economy and seeks to reward invention and innovation within the industry.

The competition is open to individuals as well as established businesses. So if you’re a budding entrepreneur with a great idea, this could be a fantastic opportunity to test the market and get product feedback from potential customers. All entries must be received on the official entry form before Friday 31 May 2013 and the winner will be announced at the show on Sunday 9^th. June 2013.

For more information on Clonakilty Agricultural Show, click here to visit the show’s Facebook page or click here to download the competition entry form.

David Cather of I and R Services, says, "The new requirementsform part of The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010. They establish minimum standards for the storage of oil at commercial, industrial and institutional premises which have a storage tank capacity greater than 200 litres. The regulations effectively bring Northern Ireland into line with requirements elsewhere in the UK. Fully retrospective, they apply to all new and existing oil and diesel storage tank installations - irrespective of the date of original installation. So even if your tank was fitted many years ago, you will still need to comply."

A key requirement within the regulations is that from 20^th March 2013 'secondary containment must be provided at oil or diesel tanks positioned within:

• 10 metres of a drain, manhole or ditch;
• 10 metres of any watercourse including stream, river, lake or sea;
• Or, within 50 metres of a well, borehole or spring.

"Many people are assuming that the transitional requirements won't apply to them," says David, "But the reality is that the 10 metre rule takes in the majority of tanks we see and a lot of businesses with single skin tanks are already in breach of the Control of Pollution Regulations.  Their tanks need to have secondary containment provided, which must comprise an oil resistant area around the tank, equal to or greater than 110% of its capacity. Due to the onerous construction requirements for masonry bunds, in most instances it will be cheaper simply to install a prefabricated, bunded tank. A bunded tank consists of a 'tank within a tank'. The inner tank acts as the primary storage vessel, whilst the outer tank acts as a secondary containment area in the event of a spill. 

"IandR are also specialists in oil spill clean-ups and remediation so we see the consequences and the cost of inadequate bunding and bad installations all too often.  As a responsible installer, we welcome any initiative which promises to effectively reduce the impact of oil upon the environment.

"Companies should also remember that as well as diesel fuels and heating oil the regulations apply to the storage of lubricants and other oils, not to mention the storage of waste oils.  Lubricants and oils can slip through the net because they are supplied in individual containers of less than 200 litres, but the regulations apply to the total capacity stored on site, so if the total capacity of all your jars and drums is above 200 litres secondary containment is required, this is most readily achieved by storing jars and drums on a sump pallet.  Waste Oils are best stored in a purpose designed waste oil tank rather than adapting another container to a purpose it wasn't designed or intended for. "

David finishes by saying that, "Despite growing awareness of the regulations, many oil tank installations across the Northern Ireland remain non-compliant.  Non-compliance can result in an Enforcement Notice being issued by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the threat of significant fines. Our advice is for all businesses to review their oil tanks and address any issues as a priority. IandR Services is also happy to provide free advice where required."

Commenting on the news, OFTEC Director General, Jeremy Hawksley said, "The sales figures for the first quarter of 2013 have been excellent and follow good results for the final quarter of 2012. Most boiler sales are distress purchases and the healthy results are due partly to the cold weather the UK has experienced this winter. However, it also underlines the public's continued enthusiasm for oil heating and the fact that upgrading to a modern oil condensing boiler will bring an immediate saving in heating costs. This is by far the simplest and most cost-effective change that existing oil heating users can make".

Additionally, the reported sales increase coincide with the launch of a boiler scrappage scheme in Northern Ireland. With over 60% of Northern Ireland homeowners and householders dependent upon oil for space and water heating, the province has the highest prevalence of oil heating in Great Britain and Ireland. The majority of boiler upgrades financed by the scheme have been oil fired condensing boilers.

The reported increase also comes as OFTEC promotes the benefits of oil heating to rural households with 'Oilsave' leaflets and flyers. The Oilsave campaign has been developed by OFTEC and the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers to support the oil heating industry and encourage homeowners to improve their heating systems and make other energy efficiency improvements.

Six years ago the future of the oil fired heating sector looked bleak when the European Commission published the draft Energy-related Products Directive. The proposed directive would have required NOx emissions levels from boilers of well below 100 milligrams per kilowatt hour. Had these limits been accepted it would have destroyed the British and Irish oil heating industry overnight, because it would have been impossible to reduce boiler emissions to the proposed levels.

However, after extensive lobbying by OFTEC and their European industry partner Eurofuel, the recently published directive has set the maximum NOx emission limit at 120 milligrams per kilowatt hours for oil boilers, a figure that manufacturers believe is achievable and are happy to work towards.

Commenting on the news, OFTEC director general Jeremy Hawksley said ‘we have worked tirelessly with our industry partners in Europe to secure this realistic figure for NOx emissions, which is extremely positive for our industry. The new standard for oil boilers has been deferred until 2018 instead of 2016 as previously proposed, which will give manufacturers the necessary lead time to implement any product changes.'

The proposed penalty for non-modulating domestic oil fired boilers has also been removed, which was also a significant threat to the oil industry. These positive outcomes are a direct result of the important work that OFTEC does in lobbying for the oil fired sector both at national and European level. Without this action it probably would have been unfeasible to manufacture an oil fired boiler after 2015/16.

The trade association, which represents the domestic oil heating and cooking industry in Ireland, was compelled to lodge this latest complaint following concerns that householders are being potentially misled into making home energy decisions using incorrect information. 

Calor’s current brochure and website claims that Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is currently 11.5% cheaper than oil fired heating on an annual basis for the domestic user. Yet according to the latest independent data from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Sutherland Tables, the source of impartial information on domestic heating costs, in January 2013, oil is actually 50% cheaper than LPG when comparing like for like boilers on an annual basis. 

David Blevings, OFTEC Ireland said, “We’re extremely concerned that householders across Ireland are being marketed heavily with energy saving claims that are contrary to the independent data available in the marketplace. We believe it’s in the best interests of consumers and the industry that all energy companies behave responsibly and are brought to account when they do not.  In this tough economic environment, householders are looking for ways to make energy savings and that’s why we asked ASAI to investigate this matter. These consumers are entitled to fair and independent data when researching fuel costs.”

Following a win on the Sunday run section in the West Cork Rally, the team did some extensive preparation work on their Honda Civic, to eliminate the transmission troubles that have plagued the team for the last few events. The Team is indebted to their service crew and fellow Class 11 competitors for their help and advice in sorting the issue.

The Tralee based event offered the team the perfect opportunity to test the car with its compact format of 2 stages repeated 3 times with service after every 2 stages. Driver Cal McCarthy this time partnered by Macroom’s William Lynch were seeded at 23, the top Class 11 and 1600 competitors. Ahead and behind lay some very exotic and powerful machinery.

On a dry but cold spring morning, the team aimed to settle in gently to ensure all problems with the car had been eliminated. Stages 1 and 2 saw a very measured approach bringing the car into service in 19^th position overall and 1^st in class.

The following loop saw the team delayed at the scene of an accident for some several minutes dropping them way down the field until the times were corrected for the stoppage. Stage 4 saw the crew push on hard to maintain their class lead and climb to 15^th overall. In service the team were greeted with some rain showers which were going to cause some stirs to the leaderboard but caused no worries to driver Cal who said, “We’re going reasonably well up until now. This rain now will shake things up a bit but I seem to go well in the wet. Rain can be a great leveler, we’re happy to try a bit harder on this next loop”

And try harder they did, climbing to 10^th overall and 1^st in class with some stunning stage times particularly on the last stage with a 5^thfastest overall time in a 1600cc Honda Civic. At the Finish in Tralee at the Carlton Hotel, where Cal and William were greeted by their service crew, the whole team were overjoyed to reach the finish alone following the earlier disappointments, nevermind such a great result.

This result marks the second Top 10 placing for the team in as many finishes which proves that given the reliability they can match it with some of the best. Of course, this would not be possible without the valuable support of all their sponsors namely Quality Hotel Clonakilty, O’Mahony Crash Repairs, Clonakilty Car Centre, Park Cinema, Clonakilty and main sponsor Carbery Plastics Limited.  

Installations were appraised for compliance with OFTEC fire safety, environmental protection, base design and construction standards. The results reveal that across the island of Ireland, 78% of surveyed installations completed in the past 10 years, were non-compliant with at least one OFTEC tank installation requirement.

In the Republic of Ireland, environmental protection was the biggest identified issue. Some 72% of surveyed tanks had been incorrectly specified as single skin tanks at installations where a Bunded Tank was required. Base design and construction was identified as a concern at 38% of oil storage installations, whilst fire safety was an issue at 26% of surveyed premises.

In Northern Ireland, fire protection was the biggest issue identified issue, with 60% of tanks non-compliant with fire safety requirements, as per OFTEC Technical Instruction Book 3 and British Standard BS5410. Environmental protection was identified as an issue at 48% of oil storage tank installations; with base design an issue at just 4% of surveyed installations.

Carbery’s John Switzer says, “When installed in accordance with OFTEC requirements, modern plastic oil tanks can provide many years of reliable, dependable service. However, just like any manufactured product, failure to install a storage tank correctly can cause irreparable damage and significantly reduce operational life. Non-compliance with installation instructions and statutory requirements, means that some technicians are exposing themselves and their customers to unwelcome and wholly unnecessary risk and liability.

“As an environmentally responsible manufacturer, we require that all Carbery tanks are installed by a competent, independently accredited technician in accordance with all prevailing statutory requirements. Despite the results of the survey, it is clear there are some great tank installers across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and at Carbery we’re fortunate enough to work with many of them. Interestingly, our research appears to suggest that replacement installations have a much higher level of compliance than original installations. And it is noticeable that compliance tends to be much greater at installations completed during the past 2 years than at earlier installations.”

Stephen Calow, Managing Director of Lisburn based IandR Services is one person who all too often sees the consequence of poorly installed tanks. As well as running an OFTEC registered and Carbery accredited storage tank installation business, Stephen also manages a team, specialising in spill control and remediation throughout Northern Ireland and the northern counties of the Republic of Ireland.

“All too often, we’re asked to attend pollution incidents which quite simply are the result of a poorly designed and poorly installed storage tank installation. All such incidents could of course have been avoided if the tank had been installed correctly in the first instance. As tank installers ourselves, it is surprising to see that a small number of technicians, continue to expose both themselves and their customers to unnecessary risk and liability. Even a relatively small spill can cause considerable damage and is not always be covered by home insurance policies.

“There are strict rules and regulations surrounding storage tank installations. These rules exist to protect consumers and to protect the environment. The discharge of oil is an offence and under the ‘polluter pays’ principle, homeowners and householders could find themselves responsible for clean up costs, of their own and of a third party, legal costs and a possible fine.”

“Whilst there has been a noticeable and welcome improvement in overall oil storage tank installation standards over recent years, there remains a small, hardcore whose practices continue to undermine the efforts of responsible technicians. We would urge anyone with any concerns over their storage tank installation, to contact either their storage tank supplier or an independent, competent, professional storage tank technician. Taking immediate action can significantly reduce the likelihood of a spill or a pollution incident.”

Commenting on the research, OFTEC's director general Jeremy Hawksley said, "OFTEC supports the UK government's aspiration to improve home energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. However, the research we commissioned shows the technologies that are likely to be incentivised through the forthcoming domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will not deliver the promised carbon savings in a real life situation, and could end up increasing fuel bills rather than saving householders money."

The report compared what would happen if an existing oil boiler was replaced by either a biomass boiler, heat pumps or a modern oil condensing boiler.

It found the physical size of a biomass boiler installation was a big disadvantage. Planning permission was a likely requirement and the overall installation cost was very high at around £16,000 plus VAT, compared to just £3,000 for a new oil condensing boiler. It noted that the carbon credentials of biomass have been questioned by environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth, who also identified pollution concerns from particulates caused by burning woody biomass. The Health and Safety Executive has also warned about the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from wood pellet stores.

The installation costs for air or ground source heat pump were also found to be high, at around £10,000 and £17,000 respectively. The heat pumps were not a straight swap for the oil boiler due to the lower temperatures they produce. This meant that larger radiators or under floor heating also needed to be installed - at significant additional cost. Space requirements and noise were also identified as concerns. The report highlighted that unless heat pumps operate at their highest efficiency rating, running costs will rise dramatically due to higher electricity consumption, making their high installation costs hard to justify. Using ‘real world' data, the report calculated that a ground source heat pump could reduce fuel bills by £113 per year. By contrast an air source heat pump would be £311 more expensive to run each year than an oil condensing boiler.

The report concluded that, for existing oil heating customers, the cost of switching to renewables was hard to justify. Upgrading the existing oil heating system by installing a condensing boiler and improving heating controls is a much cheaper option and could cut fuel bills by around 20%. Customers in England and Wales who replace their existing boiler with a high efficiency oil fired condensing one are eligible for £310 cashback under the Green Deal, and up to £40m of government funding has been set aside to help householders improve the energy efficiency of their homes by upgrading insulation, windows and heating systems. Additionally, heating oil users in Northern Ireland can also receive assistance towards the installation of a new high efficiency oil condensing boiler through the Department of Social Development's Boiler Scrappage Scheme. 

Next month sees OFTEC attend FPS EXPO on the 17th/ 18th. April. Organised by the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS), the 2 day long exhibition in Harrogate, North Yorkshire is the largest show for the downstream oil industry to be held anywhere in the UK. Later in April, OFTEC teams up with team at PHEX, participating in the Wembley seminar programme. And OFTEC will also be exhibiting at PHEX in Doncaster, Silverstone and Bristol throughout May and June.  

September sees OFTEC take its place among exhibitors at the regional Energy Efficiency and Renewables Roadshows set for Exeter and Sandown Park in Surrey. And OFTEC will be participating too, in a series of Energy Efficiency ‘Bitesize Briefings’ in Aberdeen, Belfast, Cardiff and Norwich – dates to be confirmed.  

According to a spokesperson for OFTEC, “Staff will be present to answer technical and registration queries and we will also have copies of our Oilsave marketing materials to give away. OFTEC home guides and other useful publications will be available too. The venues are within easy reach of important oil-using rural areas and we have tried to cover as much of the country as possible.” 

Carbery Plastics Rally Team Drivers Cal McCarthy and Eamonn Dullea, will spend the Holiday Weekend, battling it out for success in the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally, which will also see the debut of the Ford Fiesta WRC rally car on Irish roads. We wish Cal and William every success as they compete in the team’s home rally, with West Cork Rally HQ just a short distance from the Carbery factory.

If you need to contact Carbery during the Holiday Weekend, you can leave a voicemail message by calling 00353(0)23 883 3531, e-mail info@carberyplastics.ie or complete our Online Contact Form.