Solutions are known

With reference to carbon dioxide emissions and how a political stance overrides any real debate covering solutions to the problem, I agree with much of what constitutes 'common sense', (

, 12 November).

My old cars, a VW Golf GTI that is nearly 22 years old, provides more than 50mpg to and from work, more on longer runs, and yet it has a 1.8 litre petrol engine. The car does not have a catalytic converter or any form of electronic engine management and does not even have electrically-operated fuel injectors.

As to CO emissions, 0.1ppm is the recorded figure. Bring in a catalytic converter, and for that to work more fuel has to be consumed. This means more CO emissions because of the combustion process. The catalytic converter converts this extra CO into carbon dioxide, and dumps this out through the exhaust.

In other words, catalytic converters make CO

emissions worse, not better. Remember, the intention was for them to reduce toxic emissions, and this they do by, in this case, converting CO into CO

.

My car achieves 0-60mph in 8.3 secs while using a 112bhp engine, returns a fuel consumption figure of 53mpg to and from work, and 56mpg on long journeys. This is why I have not purchased a modern car, especially with petrol now being so expensive.

As to 'green lighting' and the pursuit of fluorescent lighting, I cannot recommend this as being 'green' when the power factor can be significantly less than '1', and the lamps, upon disposal, dump mercury into the environment.

This is particularly worrying as General Electric has announced filament lamps that are claimed to be as efficient as fluorescent lamps, and in many cases LED lighting is taking over as a superior lighting source in terms of energy transfer efficiency, life, and significantly less power consumption.The solutions in many cases are already known, and some are being applied.

The engineering solutions are known in many cases, but politicians who want to give the impression something is being done persist in proposing we should pursue fallacious methods of being green, while hoping certain engineers, who are probably in the minority, do not reveal the hidden truth and political agenda.