Madam, - The closure of the sugar factory will have a devastating effect on Carlow and the surrounding area. Is nobody in authority prepared to use a bit of lateral thinking? I believe the technology exists to convert sugar beet into a cheap and relatively pollution-free substitute for petrol. I see the following advantages in this proposal:
1. The Carlow factory stays open, workers keep their jobs and farmers have a local outlet for their crop.
2. We would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and prepare for the day when the oil runs out.
3. Sugar beet is a renewable resource and growing it actually oxygenates the atmosphere.
4. It would help our balance of payments by cutting down on imported oil.
5. The use of such biofuel is much less polluting than petrol.
6. Sugar is human fuel but in, the form of sucrose, undesirable nutritionally. If we could phase it out, we would be a healthier nation.
Am I making too much sense to be taken seriously? - Yours, etc.,
DES McHALE, Avonlea Court, Blackrock, Cork.