A new tax should be imposed on households using fossil fuels in a bid to enhance energy efficiency, experts claimed today.
With oil prices spiralling out of control and global warming an ever growing fear, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said carbon tax would encourage people to take simple steps to save energy.
ESRI senior researcher James FitzGerald
Turning off lights, insulating homes effectively, burning less coal and peat were all easy ways of saving money and power, senior researcher James FitzGerald said.
The ESRI have recommended that the Government impose a charge of €20 per tonne of carbon produced, the same rate which industry must pay, as a deterrent to wasting energy.
"You probably would not want to introduce it today with the high oil prices, but it is something that should be factored in over the next three years," he said.
"The areas it would effect would be home heating fuels, oil and gas, and similar fuels. Otherwise people don't know, they leave lights on, you have got to tell people that this is better for the environment."
The ESRI said there could be more support for a carbon tax than expected. Researchers pointed to a survey on bin charges from last year which showed 78 per cent of people would rather pay for waste by the amount produced than through a rise in income tax.
They forecast a 1 per cent increase in price of fuels from carbon tax could help achieve a 1.2 per cent fall in consumption.
The ESRI report, Aspects of Irish Energy Policy, noted around 220,000 households suffered from fuel poverty with people unable to afford the cost of home heating.
But researchers warned this should not be used as an excuse not to bring in the tax as the money generated could be put into heating subsidies for the old or unemployed.
"It could compensate the low 40 per cent of households on low incomes groups three times over. It's not really a good excuse, it is a reason for tackling fuel poverty," Mr FitzGerald insisted.
The ESRI recommended that the Government turn its focus to renewable energy and wind power. With low labour costs and a free, seemingly unending supply, wind energy is seen as the perfect replacement for expensive polluting fuels.