§ Ms WalleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give details of research(a) current and (b) planned to begin within the next 12 months in respect of clean coal technology; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EggarOver 80 projects with a value of £144 million are currently under way in my Department's coal research and development programme. My Department is 157W contributing £28 million to this project portfolio. Over the next 12 months we expect to initiate at least 30 projects on clean coal technology involving British Coal, United Kingdom industry, universities and overseas organisations such as the European Community and United States Department of Energy. Since the end of May of this year we have announced the start of 34 projects committing £7.2 million of Government funding.
To ensure there is adequate support for R and D on clean coal technology the Government announced in the coal White Paper increased support for coal R and D rising from approximately £3 million per annum to £7 million per annum for the period 1993–94 to 1995–96. This will enable research in developing advanced power generation technology and other coal science activities to continue at the Coal Research Establishment, universities and in industry and help ensure that full advantage can be taken of international collaboration.