§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is the position of the draft EEC regulation covering ethyl alcohol; and whether he proposes to recommend deletion or amendments of article 8(3);
(2) what is the cost of operating the scheme for the assistance of ethyl alcohol in £ sterling and the extent of benefit to British agriculture and the loss to the United Kingdom chemical industry.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI have been asked to reply.
The EEC Commission's draft regulation for a common organisation of the market in agricultural alcohol is still under discussion at technical level in the Council of Agriculture Ministers. I have reservations about a number of the provisions, including article 8(3), but it would be premature to reach any conclusion about the possible costs and benefits to the United Kingdom of the proposal at this stage.
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§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the volume of ethyl alcohol produced in the United Kingdom (a) from agricultural sources and (b) synthetically, together with the manufacturing cost of each and the energy required to produce a given quantity of the chemical.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI have been asked to reply.
In 1978 United Kingdom manufacturers produced 519,885 h1 of agricultural ethyl alcohol and 2,963,006 h1 of synthetic ethyl alcohol—expressed as pure alcohol. Information on manufacturers' costs and energy inputs is not available.