§ Mr. BakerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of energy consumed in the UK came from(a) nuclear power generation, (b) fossil fuels and (c) renewable sources for the last year for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made for the percentage breakdown for (i) 2008 and (ii) 2018. [36881]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 30 March 1998]: Provisional figures for 1997 show that 10 per cent. of United Kingdom inland energy consumption, on a primary fuel input basis, came from nuclear sources, 88 per cent. came from fossil fuels and 1 per cent. from renewable sources. Just under 1 per cent. came from imported electricity, which is mainly nuclear in origin.
Energy projections for the UK, published by the previous administration as Energy Paper 65 in March 1995 gave forecasts under a variety of scenarios. The scenario, which combined the central assumption for GDP growth with low energy prices, projected primary energy consumption in 2010 to be as follows;
fossil fuels 93 per cent., nuclear 5½ per cent., renewables 1 per cent. and imported electricity ½ per cent.,while in 2020 the percentages were projected as:
fossil fuels 97½ per cent., nuclear 1 per cent., renewables 1 per cent. and imported electricity ½ per cent.Energy Paper 65 did not contain projections for 2008 or 2018.
My department is working on a new set of projections which I intend to publish later this year.