asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the extent to which each alternative energy strategy is energy intensive.

Energy intensiveness is only one factor in the calculation of economic benefit of the different alternative energy technologies. Energy intensiveness, defined as equivalent annual primary energy input divided by annual energy output, varies greatly with the individual design and with the definitions of energy input employed. Such studies as have been carried out both in the United Kingdom and overseas suggest that, for all the alternative energy devices considered, energy intensiveness is considerably less than unity which means that there is a net energy gain.