The 8p per gallon reduction in the excise duty imposed on liquid petroleum (LP) gas does not go far enough in promoting the use of cleaner fuels, the chairman of the Irish LP Gas Association, Mr Sean McCourt, said yesterday. The reduction, he said, would mean a forecourt price for LP gas of £1.76 to £1.68 a gallon, which was not sufficient to encourage a widespread switch to the fuel or awareness of the need to change bus fleets over to its use. "In the UK and France there is a huge increase towards the use of LPG gas cars and paricularly in public transport, for buses and taxis and cars, because of government incentives," he said.
Propane is the normal LP gas used in the automotive industry. Guide Friday, the bus tour company, now has three of its buses in Dublin running on LP gas, Mr McCourt added.