§ Lord HYLTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much public money is currently spent (or is planned to be spent) on research and development into energy derived from: (a) the wind; (b) the waves; (c) flat plate solar heat collectors; (d) photo-voltaic cells; (e) photo-biological methods; (f) photochemical devices; and what proportion this represents of total expenditure on research and development of all forms of energy.
§ Lord STRABOLGI(a) On wind power the Government are considering an assessment study by the Department of Energy's Energy Technology Support Unit and its implications for R & D spend.
(b) On wave energy the planned spend is £2.5 million over two and a half years.
(c) On solar water and space heating the planned spend is about £3.5 million over four years.
(d) and (e) On photochemistry and photobiology the planned spend is about £1 million over four years.
(f) On photovoltaic conversion the planned spend is also about £1 million over four years.
The total planned rate of spend on these forms of energy in programmes announced to date amounts to about 1½ per cent. of the total public expenditure on R & D on all forms of energy. These figures do not include the United Kingdom contribution to EEC programmes on solar energy.