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HEALTH&HABITAT

June/July 2012 www.esb.ie/em

HOW SAFE IS YOUR JOURNEY? Find out with our Private Drivers’ Handbook

PRIVATE DRIVERS’ HANDBOOK – THE JOURNEY

GRAINNE COOGAN

SAFE DRIVING

In the April/May issue of EM we looked at a driver’s responsibilities as outlined in the Private Drivers’ Handbook. Let’s consider some of the issues around your journey that will contribute to your safety.

JOURNEY PLANNING

Plan your journey route before you set out. Give yourself enough time for the journey. Where possible, avoid urban and residential areas as these are statistically the most hazardous. Try to use motorways and dual carriageways.

Check travel news information and keep your radio tuned for weather and traffic updates.

SAFE DRIVING PRACTICES

It is ESB policy to use Daytime Running Lights (dipped beams).

Always check around your vehicle prior to driving off, especially where children are likely to be present.

Always drive in a safe and legal manner. Use the “2 second rule”. Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear for the prevailing conditions.

DRIVING AT NIGHT

• Ensure your lights are on.
• Use the information from the lights of other vehicles to indicate the path of a road, such as the sharpness of a bend.
• Adjust your speed downwards when leaving brightly lit areas such as junctions and tunnels to allow time for your eyes to adjust to the lower level of light.

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Driving in severe weather should only be undertaken if essential. Ensure your dipped headlights are on.

Wet weather

• Always check that your wipers work efficiently.
• Allow for increased stopping distances.
• Demist your windows before starting your journey.

Driving in fog

• Slow down and keep your distance.
• Use fog lights if visibility is reduced, but remember to switch them off when visibility improves.
• Even if fog seems to be clearing, don’t speed up suddenly - you may find yourself back in thick fog.

Driving on snow and ice

• Clear all the windows, exterior mirrors and roof of snow and ice. Do not use windscreen wipers until the windscreen is cleared of snow.
• Avoid sudden or harsh braking, steering or acceleration.
• If you experience a skid, remove the cause. This may be releasing the brakes, reducing the effect of the steering or both.
• Anticipate the actions of others early.
• Remember, take your time, get there safely above all else.

REVERSING

It is ESB policy that all staff should try to ‘Reverse in – Drive out’ when parking.

Mirrors are your primary aid when reversing. Use reversing aids/warning devices in addition to the mirrors. Look for assistance if necessary.

PARKING

Ensure the handbrake is engaged when parked or stopped and align the wheels into the kerb.

DRIVING ABROAD

Weigh up issues such as jet lag, unfamiliar location, local driving standards, road and weather conditions, when considering the need to drive. It may be preferable and safer to use public transport, i.e. bus, taxi or train.

• Research the Rules of the Road of the host country, the requirements for driver’s licence, road permits, and motor insurance.
• Always carry your own driving licence when driving abroad – an international driving permit is invalid unless accompanied by your driving licence.

Please consider all of the above for every journey that you make.

For more information email safedriving@esb.ie or visit the Safe Driving Website: http://esbnet/safedriving/

Private Drivers’ Handbook and Road Safety Awareness DVD

Chain reaction

Electricity Abroad

THE LAST of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors was shut down in May and what had once been the source of one-third of the nation’s electricity was simply switched off.

Nuclear energy was the cornerstone of the Japanese power mix until March 2011 when the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami crippled the reactors at Fukushima in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Public opinion mandated the shutdowns.

The Japanese government hopes to restart some reactors if it can persuade local leaders they are safe. Meanwhile, power companies have been forced to increase production at oil and gas-fueled plants. This has meant an added importation cost of €80m a day, producing the largest trade deficit in the country’s history last year.

Japan is now aiming at renewable targets of 25 to 35 per cent of total generation by 2030. For inspiration, they look to Germany, which raised its renewables from 5 per cent to 20 per cent between 1990 and 2010. “Japan can do anything that Germany can,” said Sei Kato of the Environment Ministry’s Low Carbon Society Promotion Office.

Still, progress is slow. Companies that invested billions in nuclear technology are aggressively lobbying government and many believe Japan will have no choice but to restart its reactors.

As matters stand, a power shortfall of as much as 16 per cent is predicted during the summer – an unsustainable situation that will quickly become a crisis if deadlock persists.

Turning the desert green

THE BOSS OF one of Oman’s largest electricity companies has proposed a large hybrid generation project with mix of renewable, conventional and non-conventional fuels.

Despite Oman’s 5.5 billion barrel oil reserves, Ahmed bin Saif al Mazrouy of Majan Electricity Company describes the idea as his ‘dream project’.

“We all know our oil and gas resources are going to be depleted one day. Can we then sit and do nothing about it? No!,” Al Mazrouy insists.

“What I’m proposing is 1,000MW of hybrid power comprising a solar thermal power plant in combination with other fuels, such as condensate and waste gas from the oil industry, domestic waste as biomass, and refined sweet coal,” he told the Oman Power Summit last month.

Such a plant would cost $2 billion, although the front-end investment would pay off over its lifetime due to its use of inexpensive and relatively abundant fuel sources.

Gas man

JOHN NOBLE IS a sixth generation dairy farmer in New York State. Ten years ago he installed a 135kW biogas digester at his farm. It was a learning experience. “We got some experience with it and saw how it can be a win-win,” he said.

Now, he and his partners – including other local farm families – are getting involved in biogas generation on a much larger scale.

Synergy Dairy, of which Noble is chief executive, has unveiled its new biogas project – New York’s biggest farm-based biogas project, which uses 425 tons of manure and food waste each day to generate 10,000 MWh.

Meanwhile, the plant also removes 8,500 tons of CO2 emissions from the dairy farming industry – the equivalent of 1,700 cars.

“It is the next step in trying to be good stewards of the land,” said Noble at the plant’s official opening.