§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of international trends in the use of liquefied petroleum gas for road vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [153672]
§ Mr. JamiesonThere is limited information on international trends in the use of LPG for road vehicles. There were an estimated 107,000 LPG vehicles in the UK in 2003. In contrast, there are estimated to be over one million LPG vehicles in Italy which has the largest European market.
The European Commission Alternative Fuels contact Group recently presented their report on The Market Development of Alternative Fuels. The report argued that a combination of alternative fuels had the potential to achieve a 20 per cent. market share by 2020 and identified LPG as having the scope to achieve a 5 per cent. Market share by 2010.
1451WGlobally, significant markets for LPG also exist in South Korea, Japan, Australia and North America.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are employed in the UK in the road vehicle liquefied petroleum gas industry. [153673]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe latest estimate of the Liquid Petroleum Gas Association is that there are 2,500 people employed in the industry in the UK.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles in the UK have been converted to run on liquefied petroleum gas; and how many have been converted with the aid of a PowerShift grant. [153674]
§ Mr. JamiesonAccording to the Liquid Petroleum Gas Association, approximately 107,000 vehicles had been converted to run on LPG by the end of 2003.
Since 1997, 17,383 vehicles have been converted to run on LPG with the aid of a Powershift grant.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Chancellor about the impact of fuel taxation measures on(a) liquefied petroleum gas conversions, (b) environmental damage and (c) public health. [153675]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Government issued a joint DfT/HMT/HMCE consultation document in June 2003, which sought views on the future structure of the Government's support for road fuel gases and natural gas in the short to medium term. The consultation is available on the DfT website. The consultation summarised the growth of the LPG sector incentivised by fuel duty differentials, reduced vehicle excise duty and the availability of grants under the Transport Energy programmes. Further, the consultation made an illustrative comparison of the environmental performance of LPG vehicles in comparison with conventionally fuelled vehicles.
The Government are currently considering the responses to this consultation and will announce their decisions in Budget 2004.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many re-fuelling sites are available in the UK for(a) liquefied petroleum gas and (b) compressed natural gas. [153670]
§ Mr. JamiesonAccording to the Liquid Petroleum Gas Association and the Natural Gas Vehicle Association, there are approximately 1,300 LPG re-fuelling sites in and 18 compressed natural gas re-fuelling sites in the U K.