Lord Mayor of Dublin, John Gormley to use a Volkswagen Golf Ecomatic which runs on rapeseed oil.
The car to be used by the Lord Mayor of Dublin will run on a fuel derived from rapeseed. The biodiesel is low in pollutants and high in performance reaching 60 miles to the gallon.
It may look like a regular gas guzzler but you won't see this car filling up at the petrol pumps.
John Gormley turned down the offer of a regular car in favour of the biodiesel alternative. He says it meets all his needs in an environmentally friendly way. Once you take the foot off the accelerator, the car disengages and so is saving energy.
I'd want a car which was ecologically friendly and this car fits the bill.
The biodiesel is to be supplied by Teagasc who have been growing rapeseed in County Carlow. Bernard Rice of Teagasc says that there are environmental benefits to using rapeseed oil to power cars. Rapeseed oil is not the only biofuel that can be used to power cars. Bernard Rice is also using oil used for frying fish and chips to run cars.
He has vehicles running on waste cooking oil from chippers and hotels.
Leo Burdocks chipper in Rathmines uses several gallons of oil every week which has to be recycled or taken away for disposal. Brian Burdock is a bit sceptical about putting used oil into his car but acknowledges there are environmental benefits.
John Gormley says that a car running on biofuel proves there are alternatives to petrol and diesel.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 January 1995. The reporter is Carole Coleman.
