§ Lieut.-Colonel Sharpasked the Minister of Fuel and Power why there is a high percentage of ash in the coal supplied for electricity generation; and why this cannot be taken out by washing at the pit-head, thereby eliminating unnecessary transport costs.
§ Mr. ShinwellThe need for using all the fuel that is available to meet our growing requirements inevitably means some deterioration in the quality of coal supplied to consumers including power stations whose requirements in particular have increased very considerably in recent years. The extent to which increased tonnages of coal can be handled at existing washeries is limited by the overall availability of coal which is appreciably less than it was when existing washeries capacity was designed. Everything possible is being done to speed up the installation of additional washeries but this can only have a limited effect on the position during the coming winter.