§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many tonnes of oil manufactured from coal were produced in the United Kingdom in 1981 and in 1982; and what information is available for the respective amounts worldwide.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithIt is estimated that the production of oil in coal liquefaction plant in the United Kingdom was three-quarters of a tonne in 1981 and rather less than half a tonne in 1982. However, substantial quantities of liquids were produced as by-products in coking plant.
Production figures worldwide are not known, but SASOL in South Africa was, in those years, capable of producing about 2 million tonnes per annum of petrol, diesel oil and chemicals. Experimental liquefaction plants in the United States, Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany produced, perhaps, a few tens of thousand 222W tonnes of liquids in each of the years.