§ Mr. Leeasked the Secretary of State for Energy what measures he is taking to harness the energy of waste industrial gases at present either burnt off or expelled to air into the atmosphere; and if he wil make a statement on estimated total energy value of such waste gases.
§ Dr. John CunninghamThe harnessing of the heat contained in industrial waste gases is being treated as a priority area within a continuously developing energy conservation policy. As part of this policy, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a package of energy conservation measures on 12th December 1977 which includes the extension of a programme of research, development and demonstrates projects in industry to encourage the wider application of new132W energy conservation technologies. Under this scheme £600,000 has already been allocated to demonstration projects involving waste heat recovery. The total amount of heat which could be economically recovered from all types of waste gases in industry cannot be estimated precisely, because of the large number and wide variety of processes involved, but tentative estimate suggests that it might be possible to save up to perhaps 3–4 million tons of coal or coal equivalent per annum in this way.