§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects the working party, under Dr. Walter Marshall, looking into the combined use of heat and electricity from power stations, to report; and if he will publish the report.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has any plans to increase full-time research work within his Department into the utilisation of waste heat.
§ Mr. BennThe group's studies so far have indicated that the economic case for publicly owned combined heat and power stations in the United Kingdom is finely balanced. There is, therefore, a need to pursue certain aspects of its work in greater depth in order to resolve the uncertainties. This is expected to take several more months. The group has initiated an examination by engineering consultants of combined heat and power in industry, and the results of this work,
Domestic Heating Oil (Pence per Gallon) Fuel Oil Including Tax Excluding Tax Including Tax Excluding Tax United Kingdom … … … … … 23–26 22–25 16.4 15.4 France … … … … … 28.4 23.1 15.8 15.8 Germany … … … … … 29.1 25.5 14.4 13.2 Italy … … … … … 25.5 21.8 16.1 15.9 Netherlands … … … … … 28.9 22.4 14.9 13.7 Comparable prices for the United States of America and Japan are not readily available. Most domestic heating oil in mainland Europe is gas oil, whilst in the United Kingdom it is burning oil. Fuel oil is used extensively for heating in other sectors.