Utility Week: Don't take gas for granted

A supposed UK "dash for gas" is more of a crawl as big uncertainties remain over supply, demand and policy. That was the message of experts at a Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum on Thursday.

Environment Agency chairman Lord Chris Smith expressed concern over a spike in coal-fired generation. "We are in the midst of a dash for coal," he said, as cheap US shale gas has displaced coal onto the global market and brought prices down.

This led to a "distressing" 11 per cent rise in sulphur dioxide emissions last year, which had previously been on a downward trend.

"Gas is much less polluting than coal," he added. "It is not a perfect solution but I believe it is a very important interim solution. That will especially be the case if it can be safely developed from domestic sources, which is why the development of shale gas is a substantial opportunity."    MORE