§ Sir Cranley OnslowTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what support his Department is giving to research into the development of coal gasification for the purposes of power generation. [16858]
§ Mr. PageMy Department views the development of coal gasification for the purpose of power generation as a major element of its clean coal technology R and D programme, which was detailed in energy paper 63 last October. My Department encouraged the formation of an industry-led consortium known as the clean coal power generation group to take forward, with Government assistance, further activities in coal gasification. This consortium consist of GEC Alsthom subsidiaries European Gas Turbines, Stein Industrie and EVT together with PowerGen, Babcock Energy and British Coal's coal technology development division. The initial objective of this consortium is to take forward a power generation technology known as the air blown gasification cycle to a point where its individual components are fully developed. This technology is fully described in a brochure entitled "Towards Cleaner Coal Power Generation" which, along with energy paper 63, can be found in the Libraries of the House. There are currently in excess of 40 projects under way within this and related coal gasification initiatives to a total project value of over £74 million. The DTI contribution to this work is approximately £14 million.