HC Deb 21 March 1974 vol 870 c145W
Sir J. Langford-Holt

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment, as 40 per cent. of all water from British sources is used for cooling electric power generating plant, and as the use of sealed re-circulatory cooling would make this abstraction unnecessary, and such use would make available for building and productive use land at present used for cooling towers, whether he will intensify his inquiries into the general use of sealed recirculatory cooling.

Mr. Denis Howell

The Central Electricity Generating Board is responsible for the design of power stations and I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on Monday, 18th March.

Sir J. Langford-Holt

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has made of the amount of water that would be saved if British industry used sealed recirculatory cooling instead of present methods, and of the saving in expenditure on new water resources that would be possible if abstraction of water for industrial cooling were eliminated.

Mr. Denis Howell

Water for industrial cooling is abstracted, returned and re-abstracted many times over. The elimination of such abstraction would result in the saving of only the quantity currently evaporated, which is minimal.

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