Madam, – Tom Bruton (January 28th) is correct to highlight the huge contradiction at the heart of the recently introduced carbon tax.
Biofuels lower Ireland’s carbon emissions. They are “green” and renewable. And they are produced from waste that other companies throw away, thereby diverting this waste away from landfill or other treatments and making them useful again.
For example, the biodiesel produced by Green Biofuels Ireland in Co Wexford is made predominately from used cooking oil. Converting this waste to biodiesel reduces Ireland’s carbon emissions by 90,000 tonnes annually.
Astonishingly, however, under the new carbon tax the overwhelming majority of biofuels that consumers purchase will be taxed as if they were conventional petrol or diesel. This makes no sense and contradicts Government environmental policies.
Consumers who use biofuels, and reduce their carbon emissions, should not then be penalised with a carbon tax. – Yours, etc,