Letters / Three obstacles
The ‘free fuel’ idea expressed in Sarah McBurnie’s letter (Free Fuel for ferries; SN, 03/03/14) holds a great deal of appeal for me: but I’d venture to say that the real problem with any form of ‘alternative’ fuel is probably more political than technical.
As I see it, any new idea relating to fuel and energy will inevitably run into three large problems as soon as it’s been revealed.
The first of these obstacles is the obtuse and rapacious greed of a tax system that can’t see just how counterproductive it is.
The second is applied government stupidity that also serves to protect its outrageous fuel revenues. This comes in the form of legislation designed to limit (if not actually stifle) the new discovery.
The third obstacle is that of the commercial ‘needs’ of the fuel companies (which ‘needs’ are mainly to make money and award themselves and their shareholders obscene profits and dividends).
Time and time again, we’ve witnessed fuel saving ploys that have been defeated the very next minute by the fuel companies simply ramping up their prices.
Home insulation? Oops, that reduces the cost of home heating – can’t have that – whop the price per unit up by 11 per cent.
Fuel economies arising from the use of diesel and much better engineered vehicles of all types? Oops, our revenues are down, and the government won’t be happy about their losses in tax. Whop the price per litre up by any amount you like, and then soften the blow by moderating the increase by a couple of pence so that we don’t look like the utter robbers we are.
Hydrox, Brown’s Gas, Syngas … call it what you will, its main application is that of a fuel-burn enhancer, whose effect is to secure much more efficient combustion and therefore better MPG figures.
If it ever came into general use, it would probably last about five minutes before one of the three organisations mentioned above negated its cost-effectiveness, or banned it outright.
Possibly the best way to apply it would be on a personal basis, while keeping its use secret from everyone around you.
This is exactly how governments turn honest people into criminals – and it’s also how governments become criminal themselves; by encouraging, conniving at, and being deeply and dishonestly complicit in condoning, the environmentally-polluting practices that feed them such a huge slice of unearned cash every single day.
Philip Andrews
Unst
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