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Wind Energy

33. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what target he has set for the percentage of electricity to be generated by wind energy by the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Michael Spicer : No targets have been set for the year 2000. Renewable energy technologies are at an early stage of development and there is great uncertainty about future projections. Energy paper 55 estimated that by the year 2025 wind energy might provide up to the equivalent of 10 per cent. of current electricity requirements if the technology can be proven and applied commercially. It is Government policy to encourage the maximum exploitation of renewable energy sources wherever they have prospects of being economically viable and environmentally acceptable.

British Nuclear Fuels plc

35. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has on the contribution made to the west Cumbrian economy by British Nuclear Fuels plc at Sellafield.

Mr. Michael Spicer : British Nuclear Fuels plc makes a major contribution to the economy of west Cumbria, and the capital investment programme for Sellafield will


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amount to some £4 billion by the end of the century. The company currently employs some 7,200 people at the site, while those employed there by contractors is expected to rise from the current level of some 6,000 to some 8,000 by 1991. In recent years, BNFL spent an average of £1 million a year on major schemes to help the local community. The company has recently committed itself to contribute £1 million a year over the next 10 years to a fund with local authorities and other local companies to promote new and expanding businesses in the area.

48. Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the statistics for nuclear discharges into the Irish sea from the British Nuclear Fuels site at Sellafield for each of the last five years.

Mr. Michael Spicer : Discharges to the Irish sea from Sellafield between 1983 and 1987 (the latest year for which figures are currently available) were as follows :


                       |Alpha (terabecquerels)|Beta (terabecquerels)                        

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1983                   |14                    |2,489                                        

1984                   |14                    |1,190                                        

1985                   |6                     |587                                          

1986                   |4.4                   |118                                          

1987                   |2.2                   |89                                           

Nuclear Power

34. Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has regarding the likely growth of nuclear power generation worldwide over the next 15 years.

Mr. Michael Spicer : The Department of Energy does not forecast total world nuclear power generation ; but the IAEA has recently published a range of estimates to 2005. These are shown in the table :


<

                    |Total World Nuclear                    

                    |Generation (TWh)                       

------------------------------------------------------------

1987                |1,652                                  

1995                |2,362-2,461                            

2000                |2,813-3,081                            

2005                |3,205-3,695                            

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency. Energy,         

Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the period up   

to 2005. July 1988 Edition.                                 

36. Sir Trevor Skeet : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has as to the proportion of energy needs which are currently met by nuclear power generation in (a) Britain, (b) France, (c) West Germany, (d) Belgium, (e) Spain, (f) Japan and (g) the United States of America for each of the last two years.

Mr. Michael Spicer : The proportions of nuclear generation to total primary energy requirement for 1985 and 1986, the latest full two years for which figures are available, are shown in the table :


Proportion of Nuclear Electricity to             

total primary energy requirement                 

Country                  |1985   |1986           

-------------------------------------------------

United Kingdom           |6.7    |6.4            

France                   |25.2   |28.3           

West Germany             |10.5   |9.9            

Belgium                  |17.9   |19.8           

Spain                    |8.3    |11.1           

Japan                    |10.5   |11.0           

United States of America |5.0    |5.4            

Source: International Energy Agency Energy       

Balances of OECD Countries 1985-86.              

British Coal (Scotland)

38. Mr. Douglas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the current levels of output and manning, both deep mined and opencast, related to British Coal's operations in Scotland.

Mr. Michael Spicer : I am advised by the British Coal Corporation that, in the nine months to December 1988, British Coal's deep-mined output in Scotland was 1,444,822 tonnes and opencast output was 2,709,067 tonnes. There were 2,918 men on colliery books at the end December 1988, and 1,053 contractors' industrials at opencast sites at end November 1988.

Leicester Combined Heat and Power Project

39. Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations or meetings he has had recently concerning the Leicester combined heat and power project.

Mr. Peter Morrison : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State has haddiscussions with the general manager of Leicester Energy Ltd. and my Department is also in regular touch with the company. Officials keep Ministers informed of progress on the Leicester combined heat and power district heating scheme.

Restart

5. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representations he has received on the effects of the restart scheme on beneficiaries of the redundant mineworkers payments scheme.

Mr. Michael Spicer : I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron) at Question Time today.

40. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy when he intends to meet the chairman of British Coal to discuss the pension rights and concessionary coal entitlements of former miners who have been directed to fill out restart job forms ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Spicer : My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of British Coal regularly to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.

Barrage Schemes

42. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has made estimates of the future contribution to United Kingdom energy needs from barrage schemes.

Mr. Michael Spicer : Feasibility studies of major barrages are currently under way. If they could be constructed, the Severn barrage would provide the equivalent of around 6 per cent. of today's electricity


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requirement and the Mersey around 0.5 per cent. Energy paper 55 provided a maximum estimate equivalent to 10 per cent. of current electricity requirement by the year 2025.

Electricity Generation

43. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment he has made of the maximum proportion of United Kingdom energy needs that could be derived from (a) wind power, (b) wave power, (c) solar power and (d) geothermal power over the next 50 years.

Mr. Michael Spicer : Estimates of the contribution that could be made by each renewable energy source in the year 2025 have been published in energy paper 55, copies of which are in the Libraries of both Houses. It is Government policy to encourage the maximum exploitation of renewable energy sources wherever they have prospects of being economically viable and environmentally acceptable.

Electricity Supply Industry

45. Mr. Hood : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his most up-to-date estimate of the employment level in the electricity supply industry in England and Wales, in 1990 and 1995.

Mr. Michael Spicer : The planned staffing level in the electricity supply industry in England and Wales for March 1990 is 129,580. Any estimate for 1995 will be a matter for the industry.

Drax Power Station

46. Mr. Moss : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what reductions in sulphur emissions are expected from the proposed sulphur removal plant at Drax power station ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Spicer : The flue gas desulphurisation plant which will be installed at Drax power station is designed to remove at least 90 per cent. of the sulphur dioxide in the flue gases. When fully completed, it is expected to eliminate about 10 per cent. of the board's current sulphur dioxide emissions.

Electricity (Rural Areas)

49. Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to encourage area boards to improve the supply of electricity to rural areas.

Mr. Michael Spicer : Consumers in rural areas in particular will benefit from our proposals. For the first time, all owners or occupiers of premises will have a right to require a supply of electricity from the area boards' successors, the public electricity suppliers. This right applies irrespective of the distance from the premises to the main. The suppliers will be under a statutory duty to comply on reasonable terms with all such requests, if it is technically practical to do so.

NATO Wartime Oil Organisation

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what are the posts, ranks and responsibilities of United


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Kingdom representatives designated to form part of the staff of the NATO wartime oil organisation in transition to war and in war.

Mr. Peter Morrison : The information requested is classified.

Fusion Research

Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what advantages will be gained for United Kingdom fusion research by the planned reduction in programme funding ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Spicer : Fusion, like any other new technology, will need to win its place in competition with the other sources of energy expected to be available over the next century. On present prospects, we have decided that there is no justification for continuing as broad a programme of fusion research as we have had in the past. However, we are continuing to fund the most promising line of research in our own programme and have also agreed with our Community partners that we shall maintain the present level of support to JET, whose total expenditure is around £75 million a year, through to its scheduled completion in 1992.


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CEGB (Research)

Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he has reviewed the continuation of Central Electricity Generating Board research as a requirement of the privatisation programme ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Spicer : My Advisory Council on Research and Development will be considering the CEGB's plans for research in the run up to privatisation and conveying its views to me.

After privatisation, the nature and level of the successor companies' research programmes will be matters for them to decide.

Power Stations (Employment)

Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will state the total number of jobs created by (a) the design and construction and (b) the operation of (i) nuclear power station, (ii) fossil fuel power station and (iii) tidal power barrage, and indicate for each set of data the proportion of spin-off jobs thus created.

Mr. Michael Spicer : I will write to the hon. Member with the information he has requested as soon as possible.


 

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