Shale Gas Gaining Acceptance in UK, says University of Nottingham Report

Public acceptance of shale gas is steadily increasing in the UK, according to a report carried out by professors at the University of Nottingham. 

“The trend toward increasing approval of shale have been remarkably consistent, amongst a public that is also increasingly able to identify shale gas from an initial question about ‘fracking’,” said Professor Sarah O’Hara, leader of the research team.

O’Hara, Professor at the School of Geography, and Mathew Humprey, School of Politics and International Relations, carried out regular surveys over 16-month period to investigate people’s stance on shale gas. 

The percentage of people able to identify shale gas has risen from 37.6% in the March 2012 poll to 62.2% in the July 2013 poll. 

The number of people in favour of shale gas increased in the last 15 months, with 55% of the respondents associating shale gas with a ‘cheap fuel’.

“Shale gas may been seen as ‘cheap fuel’, and therefore of appeal to people who see themselves as potential consumers, but do people believe it to be clean? Here the plurality is against shale, but again the trends are moving steadily in favour of shale gas,” said Humphrey.

Despite an increasing approval by the British public, citizens keep associating ‘earthquakes’ with shale gas.

“Overall we see very clear trends in this data, and the British public continue to warm to shale. However, this does not entail that shale gas is a widely popular alternative to other forms of energy, although it remains to be seen whether that will change if the current movement in the climate of opinion continues,” concluded O’Hara in a note recently published. 

Prime Minister David Cameron has said on Thursday that direct benefits to communities will assist in moving shale exploration forward in the United Kingdom.