Sir,– Bord na Móna plans to import 300,000 tonnes of willow pellets per year to fuel its Edenderry power plant ("Bord na Móna to spend ¤60 million on US plant", September 19th). Since the pellets will have to be dried using fossil fuels, which will also power the ships to bring the pellets across the Atlantic, the proposal will leave a giant carbon footprint and is counter-productive. – Yours, etc,
NOEL BYRNE,
Birr,
Co Offaly.
Sir, – What kind of madness is going on in Bord na Móna?
Here we have a semi-State company proposing to invest €60 million in a plant in Georgia in the United States to manufacture wood pellets out of willow trees, and import 300,000 tonnes of it annually into Ireland, and it calls that a strategy of shifting from peat production to more renewable energy sources!
Why is a State company investing €60 million outside the country when it could build a plant in Ireland and provide employment here?
Why are we importing willow pellets when you can grow willow quite easily in Ireland? All you have to do is cut a branch from a tree and stick it in the ground for it to grow here!
How can they justify transporting 300,000 tonnes annually across 3,000 miles of ocean and call it renewable energy?
This is absolute madness, and it should be strongly resisted. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’REILLY,
Lusk,
Co Dublin.