HC Deb 08 March 2004 vol 418 c1248W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the capacity of the combined heat and power unit run by her Department is: [154208]

(2) when she last conducted an environmental audit on the combined heat and power unit run by her Department; [154209]

(3 )what assessment she has made of (a) the sustainability, (b) the effectiveness and (c) the efficiency of her Department's combined heat and power unit; [154210];

(4)what the latest figure for cost per unit of operating the Department's combined heat and power plant is; [154211]

(5)what estimate she has made of damage to (a) information technology equipment and (b) stationery within her Department caused by the Department's combined heat and power unit; [154212]

(6)when she will reply to the questions on her Department's combined heat and power unit of 5 February from the hon. Member for Vale of York, reference 154208, 154209, 154210, 154211 and 154212. [156341]

Alun Michael

Defra currently operates one combined heat and power system on its estate. This is at its Weybridge site occupied by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

The capacity of the system is 1 megawatt, it was installed in 2000 and to date no environmental audit has been conducted on it. While no assessment has yet been made on its sustainability it is proving effective being very reliable and producing electrical power for the site at a cost per unit of 0.709p per kwh. A study is currently underway to review its efficiency.

Since the plant has been in use no damage has been caused to information technology equipment nor stationery.