Government body call for the UK to start fracking

The Shale Gas Task Force has called on the UK to start fracking to establish the economic impact of shale gas.

The Shale Gas Task Force has said that only after fracking has begun, will it become possible to determine how much gas can be recovered. They also said that without reliable estimates of how much gas could be recovered, companies would not start to develop the industry.

The body, which is funded by the fracking industry, was set up “to provide an impartial, transparent and evidence-based assessment of the potential benefits and risks of shale gas extraction to the UK”.

The report said that shale could create thousands of jobs and improve UK energy security, although it doubted that prices would be cut. It calls on the government and local communities to allow initial exploratory wells.

Chairman of the task force, Lord Smith said that shale could help cut emissions by replacing more polluting coal: “We need to be even clearer…about shale gas providing a bridge to a low carbon future,

Greenpeace have criticised the report, coming in just days after a climate deal was agreed in Paris.

Greenpeace have said: “If the UK government is really committed to keeping its end of the Paris deal, it must rethink its support for fracking and back safe, cheap clean energy instead.”

The report also admitted that property prices affected by fracking could see values fall, and that the affects were uncertain.

Lord Smith said: “They are understandably worried. The evidence that we can see particularly from the States is that there is a dip in value but then it recovers.”

“The people most directly affected should get some direct benefit.”

Lord Smith said that both the industry and the government must ensure that any community payment scheme directly compensates property owners.

Lord Smith criticised the government’s recent decision to axe funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology because it was crucial to creating a shale gas industry.

 

 

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