Orimulsion and Acidification in the Welsh Uplands (Hansard, 27 November 1991)

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I understand that Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution is discussing with National Power the possible burn of Orimulsion at Pembroke. I am sure that HMIP will take into account the particular environmental circumstances of Wales when considering any application under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to burn Orimulsion at these power stations. Trials of the fuel by PowerGen have recommenced at Ince with the agreement of HMIP.

§ Lord Moran
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply, which is encouraging. Is he aware that the two power stations concerned, one in Pembroke and one on Merseyside, have been operating at between 12 and 15 per cent. of capacity for the past 10 years because of the high price of oil, and that if they are able to burn this particularly cheap and nasty sulphur-rich fuel in future they may operate at full capacity but that will result in a substantial increase in sulphur emissions which will have a damaging effect on the rivers and lakes of upland Wales? Those rivers and lakes are already considerably affected by acidification.

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I am able to reassure the noble Lord. The Government are fully committed to implementing the European Community's large combustion plant directive. There can be no question of the use of a new fuel such as Orimulsion at an existing plant being allowed to cause the limits to be broken. I understand that the station recommenced the burning of Orimulsion on a long-term trials basis earlier this month with the agreement of HMIP under SI 318. The station is fitted with electrostatic precipitators which remove dust produced by the fuel.

§ Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone
My Lords, will my noble friend let me into the secret and tell me what Orimulsion is?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I can throw some light on the matter for my noble and learned friend. It is an emulsion of bitumen and water produced in Venezuela by Bitor SA and marketed in Europe under a joint venture between British Petroleum and Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, is the Minister not aware that it is recognised as being one of the dirtiest fuels in existence? Is he aware that it has caused considerable damage in this country near the power station where it has already been used? Is it not also a fact that it contributes a great deal to acid rain? If that is so, would it not be disastrous if we were to allow power stations to burn the fuel while at the same time trying to persuade countries in South America to stop destroying trees because of the consequences for the greenhouse effect?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right regarding the toxic aspect of Orimulsion. It is not a clean fuel. The point is that under the regulations laid down by HMIP there can be no question of adding to the amount of sulphur being emitted into the atmosphere.

§ Lord Hooson
My Lords, is it not correct that the fuel is sulphur enriched? Would the Government not do well to look at their own White Paper This Common Inheritance when considering the problem? Is it not correct that over the past decade the acute acidification of the Welsh uplands has been ameliorated? Does the Minister agree that it would be wrong to take 1980 as a base point for considering the matter, because if the two power stations—one in the south-west corner of Wales and the other a few miles from the north-east corner of Wales—are allowed to burn the fuel the trend of the past decade will be reversed?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, we keep the White Paper in mind. The acid sensitive areas of Wales to which the noble Lord referred benefit from the fitting of FGD, for instance, at Ratcliffe, Drax and Ferrybridge. At Llyn Brianne a study has indicated that 30 per cent. of the deposited sulphur reaching the waters comes from the general direction of those power stations. Total investment by the electricity industry, both on new clean plant and new equipment for old plant, will be over £6 billion during the 1990s to counter that effect.

§ Baroness White
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that we in Wales will not be satisfied if the Department of the Environment works out some arithmetical equation whereby there would be retrofitting of large power plants in the Midlands of England without any attention being paid to the acidified areas of mid and north Wales?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I have sought to demonstrate that the same environmental concerns will be applied to Wales.

§ Lord Donoughue
My Lords, I must confess that I share some of the worries of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hailsham. At first I suspected that Orimulsion might be a foreign laxative. On reflection, I am not sure that I was wrong.
Bearing in mind that Orimulsion is already being burned at Ince and Richborough and there are rumours that Scottish Power has begun to use it at Inverkip, will the Minister not agree in the light of the questions from many noble Lords that its use is potentially an environmental disaster? Will he confirm that the sulphur content of the substance, though nominally 2.7 per cent., after evaporation is 4 per cent., more than double that in coal; that at Ince the sulphur emissions are reckoned by the technical press to be 10 times that of oil; and that at Richborough black acid rain damaged hundreds of cars? Will he further confirm that the Secretary of State said that Orimulsion simply is: an operational matter for the companies concerned"? Will the noble Lord advise his Secretary of State that Orimulsion is a major pollution worry for everybody who cares about the environment and that its use should not be authorised?

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I can confirm that the fuel is high in sulphur, although I do not have the exact figures. I can also confirm that if used improperly it would be a dangerous environmental hazard. The incident at Richborough to which the noble Lord referred was an isolated one resulting from a breakdown of equipment. That problem has been rectified.
The type and quantity of fuel used by electricity generators is an operational matter for the companies concerned—and here I do not agree with the noble Lord—but it is of course subject. to emission limits imposed by HMIP under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I have been sitting here getting angrier and angrier because every one of his answers has been negative? Here we are sitting on millions of tonnes of coal, closing our collieries and importing from a South American country a fuel which is injurious to the environment and to employment. Surely the Government will do something to prevent that disaster.

§ Lord Cavendish of Furness
My Lords, I think that the noble Lord has been so angry that he has not listened to my answers. I have been at pains to point out how much we care about the environment, as demonstrated in the White Paper, and the elaborate steps taken to prevent environmental damage from the use of this or any other fuel.