§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what information he has on the expenditure on clean coal research for the latest year for which figures are available in each G7 country.
§ Mr. EggarThe most recent outturn expenditure figures on coal research for the G7 countries are for 1990 and were published by the International Energy Agency in "Energy policies of IEA Countries—1991 review". No figures are available specifically for clean coal research, but most of the expenditure on coal research in the G7 countries is believed to be focused on the development of clean coal technologies for power generation.
Coal Research and Development expenditure for 1990 in G7 countries £ million Canada 16.3 France 3.1 Germany 42.3 Italy n/a Japan 134.5 United States 472.2 United Kingdom 139.4 1Total United Kingdom research and development expenditure is only available on a United Kingdom financial year basis. The United Kingdom total for coal research and development is for 1990–91 and includes expenditure by Government Departments, British Coal and, where available, United Kingdom industry. Since 1981–82 about £1,000 million of public sector funds have been invested in coal technology research and development in the United Kingdom. Around half this total has been spent on clean coal technology research. The figures published by the IEA were in 1991 United States dollars. These have been converted to pound sterling using the IEA average exchange rate unit of $1.764 to £1 for 1991.