§ 2.39 p.m.
§ LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will give an assurance that the abandonment of the Ipswich prototype desalination plant based on freeze distillation does not imply any lessening of Government support for development of desalination by other processes; and whether they will make a Statement on general progress of this important aspect of water conservation.]
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, the decision on the Ipswich prototype does not itself affect support for the development of other processes of desalination. The reasons for that decision were given in answer to a Question by the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, on January 27. During the last few years, work on desalination processes by the Atomic Energy Authority has helped British industry to maintain international competitiveness in marketing multi-stage flash distillation and electrodialysis plants. It has also led to the development of more advanced distillation processes, such as the vertical tube evaporator, which is to be used in a plant ordered by the Government of Gibraltar from British industry. In addition to development of the freezing process, considerable progress has been made in the development of reverse osmosis, which has an application both to desalting of brackish water and to 493 water renovation. In consultation with the Atomic Energy Authority, the Government are now considering the extent to which development should be supported from public funds.
§ LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYEMy Lords, arising out of the Minister's reply and his justifiable tribute to private industry, may I ask whether he can assure us that the Government are going to be enthusiastic about this enormous potential? And would he care to amend in any way the Minister's reply on Thursday last, when he said:
This does not imply that we have lost all interest in desalination as a process …"—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 27/1/72; Vol. 327, col. 413.]May I ask the Minister whether, far from losing all interest, the Government have a most positive and enthusiastic interest?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, the Government have certainly a great interest in desalination. The problem, as my noble friend knows full well, is in making desalination compatible with direct commercial interests.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, may I congratulate the noble Earl on his exercise in blinding us by science? May I also ask him whether he is aware that in all these processes almost everyone is agreed that we shall never get really final proof until we have a large-scale plan; and can he say what prospect there is of a large-scale operation, now that the Ipswich scheme is cancelled?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I do not think I can add anything more to what I said earlier, because, of course, the Government's support for any future development must depend upon the report which they are expecting.
§ LORD AVEBURYMy Lords, would it not help to reassure those noble Lords who put down Questions on this subject both last Thursday and this afternoon if the Government were to circulate in some form or another a statement showing the amounts which have been made available to the Atomic Energy Authority and to others concerned in desalination in each of, say, the last three years, and the budget for the year 1973? I am sure the noble Earl will confirm that these show a substantial degree of sup- 494 port by the Government for the work at Harwell, in support of both reverse osmosis and multi-stage flash distillation.
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I think I can help the noble Lord, in a certain way at least, by telling him that the expenditure from 1965 to the end of the current year has been about £5½ million. About half of this will have been spent on various distillation processes, about 20 per cent. each on secondary refrigerant freezing and reverse osmosis, and the remainder on other processes.
§ LORD NUGENT OF GUILDFORDMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that there is a very good record of commercial process development by firms in this country for application overseas in particular circumstances? Is he further aware that the precise scientific techniques of converting salt water into fresh water are well established, and that the noble Lord, Lord Beswick, is on completely the right point in asking for the full-scale development of a commercial plant in this country because it is in the application of these techniques on a full-scale commercial basis that progress is needed? Would my noble friend ask his advisers whether they would give further attention to this point?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I will certainly call my right honourable friend's attention to what has been said. It is precisely when these theoretical exercises are put into practice that one may find snags.