One of the justifications for fracking is the use of natural gas as a bridging fuel between coal and a low-carbon future. However natural gas is mostly methane, which has strong global warming impacts in its own right. Natural gas therefore only provides climate benefits over coal if the leakage is no more than 2-3%. We cannot measure leaks from every pipe joint. One alternative is to measure the sum of lots of leaks from a distance. Flights over US shale gas fields reveal large methane sources, but these areas also have cattle farms that produce methane and the two sources need to be separated.
Guardian 29th May 2016 read more »
When councillors in North Yorkshire ignored widespread public opposition and granted planning permission for the fracking company Third Energy to carry out test drilling, there were groans around the Nottinghamshire village of Misson. For the last two years, tenacious locals in this quiet fenland hamlet have been fighting attempts by another energy firm to set up a shale gas exploration site in a nearby field.
Guardian 29th May 2016 read more »
SNP MSPs will come under pressure to rebel against the leadership’s policy of a fracking moratorium this week when Labour holds a debate on an outright ban at Holyrood. Fracking is one of the toughest issues for Nicola Sturgeon as the membership is split on it. The first minister is also under pressure from business interests to lift the moratorium, although she has said that she is “highly sceptical” about the technique. It emerged at the weekend that Ineos, the petrochemical company, has moved its fracking operations from Scotland to England. Scottish Labour and the Liberal Democrats back an outright ban and are attempting to put pressure on the SNP over it. Claudia Beamish, Labour’s environment spokeswoman, has tabled a motion at the Scottish parliament calling for cross-party support for a permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing, used to recover shale gas from the ground. She said: “The overwhelming consensus amongst scientists is that to tackle climate change we need to develop low-carbon sources of energy.”
Times 30th May 2016 read more »
IT’S time to look again at revitalising the offshore industry instead of investing in fracking, writes Professor Jon Gluyas
Scotsman 29th May 2016 read more »