Madam, - Thank you for publishing Alan Matthews's reminder of the uneconomic nature of the beet sugar process (Opinion, January 26th), and Des McHale's constructive response suggesting beet be considered as an energy crop (February 2nd).
Historically, beet sugar was developed on the Continent during the Napoleonic wars for strategic reasons, and it continued as a vested interest in France. It fulfilled a strategic role in the past century during the two World Wars.
It was, however, never economic in global terms. In the the current world situation it should of course be abandoned to give tropical, low-cost sugar producers the chance to earn export revenue to help develop their economies. This is on the agenda, and must be accepted.
What the Irish beet growers and sugar industry should do is to turn their attention, lobbying for the necessary Government support, to the strategic need to develop a range of energy crops, of which beet might perhaps be one, though this needs evaluation; perhaps it may be unduly demanding as regards energy inputs.
The technology exists for processing energy crops into the necessary range of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels, and indeed feed-stuffs in the case of oilseed. The need also exists, given the uncertainty about the future of fossil fuel supplies, on which we are unduly dependent. - Yours, etc.,
Dr ROY JOHNSTON, Belgrave Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.