HC Deb 03 June 1991 vol 192 cc11-2W
Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the number of dedicated energy managers in his Department and the number of person-years devoted to energy management in the latest year.

Mr. Wakeham

An energy manager in the Department's headquarters building and local energy managers in five other premises in which the Department is an occupant are estimated to devote around one third of a man year of effort to energy management.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the number of energy audits carried out in his Department in the past five years and for each audit a statement of its main conclusions.

Mr. Wakeham

My Department moved into its new headquarters building during the latter part of 1989. The building's plant and equipment are now in the final stages of being accepted by Property Holdings as working in accordance with the design parameters following a lengthy commissioning period. Property Holdings is aiming to conduct a tender exercise for the award of an energy-inclusive maintenance contract for the building later this year; and an energy audit is expected to form a fundamental part of this exercise.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give for each available year from 1978 the amount invested in improving the energy efficiency of his Department in(a) cash terms and (b) 1990–91 money terms.

Mr. Wakeham

Information for years from 1978 to 1988–89 is not available. However, the Property Services Agency is estimated to have invested around £1 million in energy efficiency measures in the new headquarters building into which my Department moved in September 1989.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give for each available year from 1978 the energy consumption, broken down by fuel, of the buildings occupied by his Department, expressing the figures in(a) cash terms, (b) 1990–91 money terms and (c) units of consumption for electricity in kilowatt hours, gas in therms, liquid fuel in litres and solid fuel in tonnes; and if he will give the square footage of accommodation to which these figures relate.

Mr. Wakeham

I regret that information for the years from 1978 to 1988–89 is not available. In 1989–90, my Department spent £167,655 on electricity and £18,930 on gas, respectively, £181,067 and £20,444 in 1990–91 money terms, equivalent to 3,292,605 kilowatt hours of electricity and 59,647 therms of gas. In 1990–91, it is estimated that my Department spent £254,357 on electricity and £49,763 on gas equivalent to 4,564,493 kilowatt hours of electricity and 160,128 therms of gas. The area to which these figures relate is 259,683 sq ft for 1989–90 and 242,200 sq ft for 1990–91. The higher consumption in 1990–91 reflects commissioning problems with air-conditioning plant in the Department's new headquarters building, and long working hours in some divisions.