§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the letter of 3 October 1998 (D/Min/DP/Jb3521/98/M) from the Minister for Defence Procurement to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what progress was made in 1998 by his Department in reducing its use of controlled substances under the Montreal Protocol whenever acceptable alternatives were available, and to minimising emissions of materials where they must still be used; and if he will provide specific examples. [65388]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Ministry of Defence has programmes in place, where technically feasible, to convert equipment and facilities to use materials that do not deplete the ozone layer. However, owing to the complexity and inevitable length of these programmes, the progress made during 1998 should be seen in the context of longer-term developments.
The Royal Navy has reduced the total installed charge of CFC-12, used in marine refrigeration and air conditioning systems, from 40 tonnes at the beginning of 1996 to 8 tonnes by the end of 1998. New refrigeration equipment was procured last year to enable the conversion of the remaining surface vessels by the end of 1999 and the conversion program for the Trafalgar class submarines was started. During 1998, the Army continued trials of alternatives to halon fire extinguishants for use in armoured vehicle engine compartments and two alternative refrigerants are being evaluated for specific vehicle applications. The RAF completed a study that identified alternatives to the CFC solvent used in cleaning of oxygen equipment and also eliminated the use of the CFC necessary for the maintenance and testing of the VC10 cabin conditioning equipment. A modification programme was initiated to replace the CFC in refrigerators on the E3 Sentry and is due for completion by the middle of this year.
For applications where no acceptable halon alternatives have been identified, my Department, through the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, and the Royal Navy continued their research into new chemical fire extinguishants and water mist technologies.
313WTo minimise emissions of the controlled substances, the Royal Navy has procured and is installing high integrity valves and flexible refrigerant hoses for its vessels. A lubricant additive was successfully evaluated, procured and installed in most vessels to assist in the detection of leakages. Competitive tenders for electronic leak detection equipment are currently being assessed, following the successful completion of an evaluation program. All the Services have procured equipment and introduced procedures to recover the materials for recycling during system maintenance. Education and training of users of ozone depleting substances are featured in the comprehensive package of environmental protection courses made available by the RAF to all members of the Department during 1998.