THE Houses of Parliament may about to be powered by the tidal force of the River Thames and solar panels in a green makeover of the 140-year-old buildings.

Under a plan to be considered by peers and MPs later this year, a network of turbines could be placed underwater near the Palace of Westminster.

Tidal power is about to be harnessed in New York, where marine current turbines are being installed in the city’s East River.

MPs are anxious to generate “green” electricity to curb emissions of carbon dioxide caused by parliamentary energy consumption, which has gone up 45% since 1997.

Tidal power is being studied because opportunities for other forms of generation, such as wind turbines and solar panels, would have to be restricted to hidden parts of the roof on the grade I listed building.

“There are a whole series of techniques available to harness the natural resource of the Thames,” said Paul Monaghan, director of the parliamentary estates. “It is known technology. It is possible to get energy from the movement of the tide. We need to look at these things, analyse which are efficient and pursue them — certainly harnessing energy from solar cells or heating water on the flat roofs are possible.”

He said he was prepared to “think the unthinkable”, adding: “We should responsibly be looking at how we could collect energy and reduce our bills.”

The review of parliamentary energy follows a report last year by Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP, which found that the Commons alone was using enough energy in a year to supply 5,000 households and the heating bill for each MP was more than £180.

Baker pointed out that lights were often left on all night, lifts were travelling empty between floors and television monitors were routinely left on standby throughout the building.

The review, carried out by experts in building technology and the environment, is near completion and a series of options and costs will be put to MPs and peers later this year.

Verdant Power, the tidal power specialist responsible for the New York scheme, estimates that the array for parliament would cost about £1m. The turbines, which have a diameter of 6ft, would be fixed to the riverbed and could deliver an estimated 10kW of energy each.

The Thames alongside the Westminster buildings is thought to be one of the few areas of the river in which turbines might work. The security exclusion zone, which reaches 45ft from the river bank, keeps the area free of boats and would allow the turbines to work unhindered.

However, even if the scheme is accepted, tidal power could generate only a fraction of parliament’s needs. It is estimated that 50 turbines working at full capacity would be sufficient to supply about 10% of energy requirements.

This is partly because the tidal flow will be strong enough to power the turbines for only about a third of the time.

The Environment Agency and river authorities have not yet been consulted about the possible impact of the scheme — among other considerations the blades on the turbines would have to be shielded to avoid killing fish.

Supporters of green energy argue that parliament should be setting an example: earlier this year it was announced that Britain would miss its 2010 target of cutting by 20% the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from industry and transport.

Baker said: “We should be leading by example and showing that in a country with such an old building stock as Britain’s, we can convert these properties.”

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