Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will indicate his estimate of the gap in production costs for bioethanol fuel compared to competing oil based products. [33113/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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In 2004, Sustainable Energy Ireland published a report entitled, A Liquid Biofuels Strategy for Ireland. Figures provided in this report show that in 2004, the cost of petrol at the filling station, exclusive of excise duty and VAT, was 33c per litre, compared with production costs of 58c per litre for wheat-based bioethanol and 74c per litre for sugar beet-based bioethanol. In addition, due to differences in energy content of bioethanol compared to petrol, approximately 1.5 litres of bioethanol is required to replace 1 litre of petrol. The cost of petrol has of course risen significantly in 2005 and the published figures for the second quarter show the price at the pump was 39.2c per litre, exclusive of excise duty and VAT.