§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether his Department has evaluated the potential use of hydrogen as a replacement fuel for oil.
§ Mr. Mellor:My Department has considered the possible role for hydrogen and has concluded that it :is unlikely that it can be manufactured cheaply enough to displace existing fuels in the United Kingdom until well into the next century.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will take steps to obtain details of the work at Texas 183W A and M university on hydrogen extraction from water for use as a possible fuel replacement for oil in the future; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mellor:My Department will study the detailed results as soon as they become available. It would appear that much development work will be required before the commercial production of hydrogen directly from solar energy can be realised. Countries with abundant sunshine would have a clear advantage over the United Kingdom for this method of producing energy from renewable sources.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Energy if his Department is sponsoring any research projects into the production of hydrogen from water for use as an alternative fuel.
§ Mr. Mellor:My Department is supporting the manufacture and demonstration of an advanced design of electrolyser for producing hydrogen from water by electricity. In addition, the Science and Engineering Research Council is supporting several projects to produce hydrogen directly by solar energy and the European Community has a research and development programme on the manufacture and use of hydrogen.