Britain Gives Green Light to Shale Gas
The British government has given the go-ahead for shale gas mining to resume in the UK, including the use of hydraulic fracturing.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey made the announcement Thursday morning, in Parliament and with a statement on his department's website. It paves the way for dozens of sites across the UK being licensed as ministers signalled their hope that shale gas would help to make up for the decline in North Sea gas supplies.
“Shale gas represents a promising new potential energy resource for the UK. It could contribute significantly to our energy security, reducing our reliance on imported gas, as we move to a low carbon economy," the minister said.
Davey, who heads the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said his decision was "based on the evidence," and was arrived after a detailed study of scientific research on shale mining.
“We are still in the very early stages of shale gas exploration in the UK and it is likely to develop slowly. It is essential that its development should not come at the expense of local communities or the environment. Fracking must be safe and the public must be confident that it is safe."
Fracking, and shale gas mining, was suspended in the UK last year after two minor earthquakes occurred near a site in Lancashire being operated by Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla had initiated commercial shale gas mining in the UK, and says there is huge potential across Britain. Its chief executive, Francis Egan, told a parliamentary committe earlier this week that shale deposits could provide a quarter of UK's gas needs, and had richer prospects "than Iraq".
The approval for shale was widely anticipated, especially after Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain should be "at the heart of the shale gas revolution". Chancellor George Osborne has also given his belssing to tax breaks for shale extractors.
Energy Minister Davey also said he would commission a study on possible greenhouse gas emissions caused by shale mining. And he referred to the regulatory role of the new Office for Unconventional Oil and Gas, announced in Chancellor Osborne's Autumn Statement last week.
A negative reaction is inevitable from critics of shale extraction, in particular fracking or hydraulic fracturing, the key extractive method. Helen Wolfson of Friends of the Earth immediately appeared on Sky News to say there were still fears about the possible effect of fracking on groundwater supplies.
The Guardian reported that concerns had been raised afater widespread exploitation of shale resources in the US.
It quoted Friends of the Earth senior energy campaigner Tony Bosworth as saying: "A green light to fracking would spell bad news for local communities and their environment, jeopardise UK climate change targets and help keep the nation hooked on dirty gas for decades.
"Gambling on shale gas is a risk we don't need to take – developing our huge clean power potential and cutting energy waste will create jobs, reduce our fossil fuel dependency and keep the lights on."
Tony Grayling of the government-backed Environment Agency, quoted in the DECC statement, said: "We are satisfied that existing regulations are sufficient to protect people and the environment in the current exploratory phase. We have also established a Shale Gas Unit to act as a single point of contact for industry to ensure there is an effective, streamlined approach for the regulations that fall within our responsibility.”