§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what investments his Department, and predecessor Departments, have made annually since 1979, to support research, development and demonstration projects in clean coal technology; and if he will make a statement on the criteria adopted in deciding upon investment.
§ Mr. EggarThe estimated annual investment by my Department and the former Department of Energy in support of coal research and development is as follows:678W
1991 prices £ million 1979–80 5.3 1980–81 5.7 1981–82 8.3 1982–83 6.0 1983–84 5.3 1984–85 1.3 1985–86 1.1 1986–87 2.5 1987–88 1.7 1988–89 1.1 1989–90 2.2 1990–91 11.8 1991–92 5.1 Total public sector expenditure on coal R and D over the period 1981–92 was approximately £1,000 million, at 1991 prices, of which around half was associated with the development of clean coal technology.
The Department's coal R and D programme is primarily focussed on the development of new clean coal technologies that improve the environmental performance of coal utilisation. The criteria for assessing the desirability of specific project proposals are set out within a document prepared by the Department's coal task force in August 1991. Factors include the degree of novelty, relevance to the overall objectives of the R and D programme, and the potential for exploitability. If the objective of the work is commercial, the potential benefit to United Kingdom company competitiveness is also taken into account.