HC Deb 28 April 2004 vol 420 cc1021-4W
Linda Perham

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of UK refrigeration equipment disposal plants use vapour recovery hoods. [165454]

Mr. Morley

Sites in England and Wales do not have vapour recovery hoods as the technology developed to recover ozone-depleting substances (generally mechanical recovery) incorporates alternative mechanisms to prevent gas release (e.g. vacuum sealing).

Mr. Stringer

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of CFCs were converted into inert substances in 2003; what her estimate is of how many tonnes of CFCs will be converted into inert substances in 2004; and what her target is for the conversion of CFCs into inert substances for 2004. [167238]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: Under EC Regulation 2037/2000 on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. CFCs must be recovered for destruction. The amount of CFCs destroyed in 2003 for the whole of the UK was 494,356 kg. Figures for 2004 are not available yet, but will need to be reported to the European Commission by 31 March 2005 in order to fulfil the reporting requirements under Article 16 of the Regulation.

Mr. Stringer

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost to(a) central Government and (b) local government of an effective containment programme of hydrofluorocarbons leakage. [167239]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: The European Commission have proposed a Regulation on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (hydrofluorocarbons/HFCs) which includes proposed containment measures as well as measures prohibiting the placing on the market of HFCs in certain uses.

The Government provided an initial assessment of the costs of the proposed Regulation in a Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment, published in November 2003. The annualised costs were estimated to be in the range £74,000 to £225,000.

These costs related to the compliance costs of the sectors directly affected by the proposal. Some of these costs may be passed on to the consumer. This initial assessment did not estimate anticipated enforcement costs for central/local government or other bodies.

Mr. Stringer

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was to(a) central Government and (b) local government of recovering, recycling and destroying CFCs from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in each year for which figures are available; and what her estimates are for future expenditure. [167240]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: The cost to central Government of recovering, recycling and destroying CFCs from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment would have fallen mainly on the Government estate, but is not quantified.

The Government provided an additional £46 million in England for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2003 to cover the costs on local authorities of implementing the Regulation. The Spending Review 2002 provided an increase in the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services block Formula Spending Shares for 2003–04 onwards to cover the ongoing costs on local authorities.

Mr. Page

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the average decommissioning cost per refrigerator. [165857]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 19 April 2004]: The average decommissioning cost of a refrigerator is between £10 and £15.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the volume of emissions of hydrofluorocarbons in each of the last five years; and what forecast she has made of future emissions. [167480]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: The table shows total emissions of hydrofluorocarbons for the last five years for which estimates have been made, plus projections for 2010 and 2020. The historical estimates are from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 1990–2002, published in April 2004. The projections are consistent with the inventory and were made by AEA Technology in a contract to Defra completed in July 2003. The data are expressed in terms of a unit equivalent to the emission of a thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide.

UK emissions of hydrofiuorocarbons (kt CO2 equivalents)
Emissions
1998 17,268
1999 10,830
2000 9,081
2001 9,728
2002 10,418
2010 11,563
2020 10,394

In August 2003, the European Commission proposed a regulation on certain fluorinated gases intended to reduce further emissions of hydrofluorocarbons. The additional emission reduction achieved by this regulation will depend on the final outcome of EU negotiations.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the environmental effects of replacing chlorofluorocarbons with hydrofluorocarbons in new refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment; and if she will make a statement. [167481]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in new refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment has been prohibited under EC Regulation 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer. In practice, new most domestic refrigerators in the UK now use hydrocarbon (HCs) refrigerants rather than hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

CFCs have a global warming potential (GWP) of 4,600–14,000, The HFCs in most common use in UK have GWPs in the range 650–3,800. Hydrocarbon refrigerants (e.g. propane, butane) have a GWP of 3.

The change from CFCs to HCs is likely to result in a reduced impact on the climate from refrigeration emissions, due to their lower GWP. In 2002, emissions of HFCs from mobile air conditioning (MAC) were equivalent to 1,080 kilo tonnes of CO2.

CFCs have an ozone depleting potential, whereas HFCs and HCs do not, so the die' of replacing CFCs with these refrigerants is to less en ozone depletion activity.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is being made towards developing less environmentally damaging alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons in refrigeration and air-conditioning plant; and if she will make a statement. [167482]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: Alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons are already available. Hydrocarbons, ammonia and carbon dioxide can be used as the coolant in refrigeration and air-conditioning plant. The choice of coolant will depend on relative energy consumption, safety and other technical considerations.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has collated regarding(a) the number of sites in the United Kingdom for retrieving chlorofluorocarbons from domestic refrigerators and (b) the location of such sites; and what measures she is taking to facilitate the development of further sites. [167483]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 22 April 2004]: Under Article 16 of EC Regulation 2037/2000 the UK is required to submit details on the sites available for retrieving chlorofluorocarbons from domestic refrigerators. There are 24 sites in total. Details of these facilities and their locations are listed in an annex available in the Library of the House.

The market will facilitate the development of further sites (if needed).