SPENDING on offshore gas exploration and production is predicted to reach a peak of $1.3 trillion – almost £1tr – by 2025, according to a Norwegian risk management group. The figures would mean a huge increase from $960 billion (£732bn) in 2015. In its Energy Transition Outlook, DNV GL said a “golden age for gas” would see it overtake oil as the world’s primary energy source by 2026. The group forecast that liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity would double by the late 2040s, connecting its shifting sources with changing centres of demand. It said the world will need less energy from the 2030s onwards but will still require a significant amount of oil and gas in the lead-up to mid-century. This independent model of the world’s energy system forecasts that rapid gains in energy efficiency will lead to a peak in humanity’s energy demand by 2035 at a level around 15% higher than in 2017.
The National 8th Oct 2018 read more »
Letter: The Government’s proposals to fast-track fracking would disregard the wishes of local communities, remove decision-making powers from local councils and strip the requirement for fracking companies to apply for planning permission for shale gas exploration. If approved, these proposals would be as shocking as they would be harmful. Councils are elected by local people, for local people, to make decisions on issues that affect their area. It is a perversion of local democracy to simplify the planning process for non-hydraulic exploration so that communities have to hand over the final say on shale production to a minister. It will undermine the principles of our planning system. The risks of injecting chemicals into the earth, to remove carbon-emitting fossil fuels, are well known and could have a disastrous effect on our countryside. Everywhere fracking has been proposed, it has been vehemently opposed. We, the voice of the environmental sector, are calling on the Government to drop proposals that risk opening the door to fracking on an industrial scale, and threaten the health and tranquillity of our green and pleasant land. Far from removing local people’s voices from the discussion, it is imperative that they have their say.
Telegraph 7th Oct 2018 read more »