Wave energy has massive potential - The Irish Times reports this morning that wave energy has the potential to supply 150 per cent of Co Clare's electricity needs and wind energy could supply almost 50 per cent of the county's electricity requirements by 2015, according to the manager of the Limerick-Clare Energy Agency, Pat Stephens.
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Dundalk firm wins €10m export contract - Dundalk based software and PC manufacturer iQon has won an export contract worth €10m following the establishment of a French subsidiary, iQon France, according to this morning's Irish Independent.
The company has made an initial investment in the French subsidiary of €500,000 and has opened an office in Toulon.
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Ethanol producers to tap investors - The Financial Times reports this morning that US ethanol producers plan to tap equity investors for at least an additional $700m over the next month despite uncertainty over demand for its use as a fuel additive for US cars.
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Lloyds plans to eliminate pension deficit by 2016 - Lloyds TSB announced yesterday that it expects to eliminate its £2bn pension fund deficit over the next decade, according to this morning's Guardian. The bank, Britain's fifth largest, said it had agreed with its pension scheme trustees to fund its £1.5bn actuarial deficit over the next six years. The bank will also make extra voluntary contributions and expects the larger accounting deficit to be fully eliminated within 10 years.
In its trading statement for the first half of 2006, Lloyds TSB said it expected revenue growth to exceed the rise in costs in all units, and said it should deliver "satisfactory" earnings growth for the six months to the end of June. The group said its banking arm was boosted by improved sales through high-street branches, over the telephone and on the internet, all of which were "well ahead of the same period last year".
