§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Energy what encouragement his Department is giving, in the interests of energy conservation, to the development of battery-run buses and their use by public transport authorities as an alternative to diesel engine vehicles.
§ Mr. KaufmanI have been asked to reply.
The extent of the possible contribution of battery-run buses to energy conservation has not been clearly established. My Department has commissioned the manufacture of two city-centre electric buses, and the results of trials confirm the need for the development of improved traction batteries. In collaboration with others, including industrial interests, my Department is supporting work on sodium sulphur batteries, and has in addition set up an Advanced Battery Support Unit to keep under review developments in the battery field, the primary objective being to assist in the development of an alternative to the internal combustion engine for transport applications.