To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of the electricity used by his Department was generated from (a) renewable sources and (b) on-site microgeneration facilities in the last period for which figures are available. (166473)

The information is as follows:

(a) The Department and its predecessor—DTI, has purchased electricity from renewable sources since 1999. From October 2007 all HQ buildings have been supplied with green electricity where the Department is responsible for the purchase of electricity supply which compares favourably to the Sustainable Development target for energy target which is to buy 10 per cent. by 2008. The previous percentage was 36 per cent.

(b) The Department does not currently have any on-site microgeneration facilities on its HQ estate and therefore does not produce any energy from such a source. During May 2006 Future Energy Solutions (AEA Technology) in conjunction with the Carbon Trust were commissioned to perform a Renewable Energy Feasibility Study on the DTI HQ estate, now BERR. The Department are investigating the installation of feasible solutions where practicable and where leases permit.