Belfast welcomes
hydrogen-powered
buses
Infrastructure Minister
Nichola Mallon and
Transport Minister Rachel
Maclean have welcomed the
first hydrogen powered double
decker buses entering service in
Northern Ireland.
The arrival of the three new
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses is
the culmination of an exciting
zero emissions bus pilot
project powered by “Green”
renewably produced Hydrogen.
The buses, emit only water
Digital cluster launched in LIT
8 » JANUARY 2021 » WWW.MADEIN.IE
and will be 100% powered by
green renewable wind energy,
responding to the global climate
emergency by reducing air
pollution and protecting public
health.
Translink together with
N EWS January 2021
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the Energia Group formed a
consortium which successfully
bid for part funding from the
Office of Zero Emission Vehicles
(OZEV) with the remainder of
funding from the Department
for Infrastructure. The overall
capital investment represents
around £4 million.
Transport Minister Rachel
Maclean said: “As we look to
end the UK’s contribution to
climate change by 2050, the
whole transport sector will need
to embrace new innovative
technology such as green
hydrogen and this project is a
fantastic example of doing just
that.
“I’m proud to see the UK
leading the way when it comes
to the global transition to zeroemission
vehicles. In the next
decade, we’ll continue to be
at the forefront of the design,
manufacture and use of them
too as we strive towards our
net-zero goals.”
Chris Conway, Group Chief
Executive, Translink said: “This
is great news for our customers
and the wider public as we
make real progress to tackle the
climate emergency, enhance air
quality for health and wellbeing
and reduce traffic congestion.
The IDEAM (Irish Digital Engineering
and Advanced Manufacturing)
Cluster, designed to assist
Manufacturing SMEs in all aspects
of digital transformation and
Industry 4.0, was launched at
Limerick Institute of Technology LIT.
The cluster will help more than
70 Manufacturing SMEs, from the
Mid West and all over Ireland to
increase productivity, improve
competitiveness and expand into
international markets.
IDEAM will also bring together
and support the growth of three
well established networks,
-Limerick for Engineering, Limerick
for IT and the Precision and Turned
Parts Manufacturing Association
(PTMA) through this overarching
cluster.
The cluster received the
maximum allocation of €406,520
from the Regional Technology
Clustering Fund, which provides a
platform for engagement between
enterprise and regionally-based
academic institutions to drive
productivity and competitiveness
across the regions, and is overseen
by Enterprise Ireland.
Dr Liam Brown, Vice-President
for Research, Development
& Innovation, LIT said,
“Business clusters have proven
to drive regional economic
development performance,
due to the significantly greater
increases in innovation and
technology applications, and
commercialisation of these
applications. IDEAM will act as a
catalyst for bringing together the
key stakeholders from industry,
academia, and government to make
a real impact on the development
of the advanced manufacturing
and digital transformation sector
in the Mid-West region and Ireland
as a whole.
“The IDEAM Cluster will enable
the AIT – LIT Consortium 1 to
cooperate and engage further with
SMEs providing a means to increase
their educational and research
remit in all aspects of digital
transformation and Industry 4.0.
Working jointly as part of the AIT –
LIT Consortium can bring many new
opportunities for manufacturing
SMEs to augment their digital
journey.”
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