Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

Do the Members present remember the three-speed gear boxes that were in cars at that time? They were in trucks as well but especially in cars. I remember asking why there were not four or five speed gears and an engineer told me that such a gear box could not be made. It could be done, however, and it was done. There is no problem with a six, seven, 16, 17 or 20-speed gear box, depending on the differentials of the ratios introduced. The road transport fleet has such gear boxes but, in the ordinary domestic motor car, there is no problem with six or seven gears. The effect of such a speed box on fuel consumption is major because one can shift gears in an area and get 23, 24 or 25 miles per gallon for an average car. A Volkswagen Beetle used to give approximately 28 miles per gallon. I still have one myself and know the mileage. Increasing the gear ratios and changing the gear box around can double the mileage. One can get twice as much mileage and perhaps even more for the same amount of fuel.

There is a colossal saving to be made in the development of technology. If we address the issue and devote time to it, it can be done to a major extent. My party is not in favour of carbon tax because that is just like taking a tablet. One takes the tablet and then does the same as before. We will pay the carbon tax and continue on as normal. We must discourage the use of high consumption vehicles by introducing positive incentives and moving towards development of the technology to improve performance. At the same time there should be a financial bonus or incentive by simply going in the direction of the vehicles that are geared for that purpose.

On wood burning for domestic heating, which the Government is promoting, and geothermal heating there have certainly been improvements. These solutions are quite expensive, however. The lifespan will eventually determine how valuable they are. Based on my amateur investigations, domestic heating from home-produced oil is an area in which much more could be done in terms of biofuels of all descriptions such as biodiesel, bioethanol etc. These are very simple to introduce. As the Minister of State knows, the fact that biofuel may be home produced does not mean there is not some pollution. There is, and there is also pollution from wood burning, although people tend to regard this as carbon neutral. Carbon neutral, of course, can mean different things to different people. The blunt and short answer is that whatever carbons are trapped in a fuel are released when the fuel is burned. There are some who say they are released over a longer timespan, but in fact they are released quickly.

There is considerable merit in examining home heating systems. It is important to recall that in the 1960s and 1970s houses were built in this country without chimneys. Everyone was opting for oil at that time and houses were much cheaper to build.

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