Written question asked by Bill Tynan (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 June 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 15 June 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 June 2004 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what estimate she has made of changes in carbon emissions which would result if all gas fired power stations which have been approved, but are yet to enter service, replaced existing carbon emitting generators. - Includes figures.

Answer: Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of changes in carbon emissions which would result if all gas fired power stations which have been approved, but are yet to enter service, replaced existing carbon emitting generators. [178323] Mr. Timms: The answer depends on the assumptions made about the type of existing carbon emitting generation which the new gas-fired capacity would replace and the load factor for the new gas-fired plant. There is currently around 4,800MW of gas-fired capacity, comprising six large stations, approved but yet to enter service. If coal-fired plants are replaced then the carbon saving would amount to around 4 million tonnes per annum as coal emits more than twice the amount of carbon as gas per TWh of generation. If older gas-fired generation plants were replaced then the change in emissions would be around 0.3 million tonnes per annum, the change reflecting only the higher efficiency of new gas-fired generation compared with older gas generation technologies. A load factor of 70 per cent. is assumed for gas-fired generation.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 178323; 422 c814W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Air pollution Coal fired power stations Carbon Gas fired power stations Pollution control Smoke and chimney gases
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk