§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the potential of photovoltaics to reduce carbon emissions. [99029]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe technical potential for building integrated PV in the UK is currently estimated at 15 terrawatt hours (TWh), which represents less than 5 per cent. of current electricity consumption. The potential savings in CO2 emissions if all this resource could be utilised, which is unlikely for practical, economic and environmental reasons, would amount to some 7 million tonnes per year.
The average cost of electricity from building integrated PV is currently around six times that of electricity generated from conventional fuels, and is unlikely to decrease sufficiently over the next ten years to make more than a small contribution to the carbon emission reductions necessary by 2012. The current annual generating capacity of installed PV in the UK is some 0.5 gigawatt hours (GWh).
However, in the longer term, PV has the potential to make a significant contribution to carbon savings. The DTI has been supporting a programme of research, development and demonstration of the technology in the UK for several years and, together with support from the European Union, a number of major examples on building intergrated photovoltaics are now operating.