asked the Secretary of State for Energy what organisations involved in the development of alternative power sources in the United Kingdom receive funding directly or indirectly from his Department; and how much each has received since 1979.
Support has been given to the private sector, research institutes, universities and the nationalised industries for work under my Department's programme on the renewable sources of energy. The total number of contracts in place and incurring expenditure between 1979 and the present time is 426.
asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his assessment as to which alternative source of energy has the greatest potential for development in the United Kingdom.
It is not possible to pick the single alternative source with the greatest potential for development at the present stage of development. Some technologies, such as passive solar and waste combustion,
| £ million | ||||||||||
| 1975–76 | 1976–77 | 1977–78 | 1978–79 | 1979–80 | 1980–81 | 1981–82 | 1982–83 | 1983–84 | 1984–85 Estimate | |
| Wind | 0·3 | 0·6 | 0·8 | 0·9 | 2·5 | 2·5 | 4·8 | |||
| Wave | 1·8 | 3·0 | 3·3 | 4·4 | 3·1 | 1·0 | 0·4 | |||
| Geothermal aquifers | 0·2 | 1·3 | 1·7 | 2·6 | 1·5 | 1·8 | 1·1 | |||
| Geothermal hot dry rocks | 0·5 | 0·3 | 1·3 | — | — | 0·6 | 5·6 | 3·0 | 2·9 | 4·6 |
| Solar | 0·2 | 1·2 | 0·9 | 0·7 | 1·4 | 0·9 | 0·5 | |||
| Biomass | — | 0·1 | 0·3 | 0·4 | 0·7 | 0·3 | 0·2 | |||
| Tide | — | 0·6 | 1·4 | 0·4 | — | — | 0·3 | |||
| ETSU services | 0·7 | 0·2 | 1·1 | 1·4 | 2·2 | 2·3 | 2·0 | 1·9 | 2·1 | |
| TOTAL | *.5 | *1.0 | *2.5 | 3·6 | 8·2 | 11·2 | 17·3 | 14·2 | 11·3 | 14·0 |
| * Includes energy conservation Research and Development. | ||||||||||