Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My first question picks up on wind and wave energy generation. We started hearing about this 20 years ago. I heard the reply to Deputy Bríd Smith but are there examples from around the world where wind and wave have been utilised effectively? Is the issue in Ireland due to lack of investment in research and development or is it because those technologies do not seem to be a viable alternative in respect of cost benefit or consistent output? Regarding Moneypoint power station, what is the most effective way of powering that in the future? That is a major issue and it gets bounced around. Is it natural gas? If it is, do we have the natural gas potential to supply it?

What are the greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas compared with those from oil and coal? If something is powered by oil and coal and there was a switch-over to natural gas, what would be the percentage reduction in greenhouse gas emissions?

I listened carefully to the earlier discussion about HGVs. It is a big issue because some solutions can be found in the public transport sector, including electrification of the fleet and so on, but for the haulage industry, in providing torque, or pulling power, we do not yet have them. What we are really looking at as adding biogas to the grid. What percentage of the fleet could be powered by biogas?

My last two questions are very brief. What is the optimal way to develop and implement a carbon tax, not only to achieve a reduction in emissions but also public acceptance, particularly in view of what has happened in France?

I refer to the potential to use hydro power. I do not want everyone to answer my last question, but perhaps one of the panel might answer it. We have had a dry year, weather wise, but there is still a lot of water on the island. There have been other years when there has been a hell of a lot of it. Plans have been brought forward in the past release water and flood valleys to generate electricity. Some very innovative methods used in other countries have been considered. The power plant at Ardnacrusha supplied all of the electricity needs of the State in the 1920s; my understanding is that it now supplies less than 4%. Considering that we have heavy rainfall and mountainous terrain, is there an opportunity, perhaps through using a number of hydro plants, to provide for our power needs? Obviously, hydro is a clean source of energy.