Yesterday, I was suitably unenthused by the declaration that
the PM was “going all in” on fracking. His visit to a fracking site around the
Lincolnshire town of Gainsborough followed the announcement that French oil
giant Total was investing £30 million in two exploratory wells in Lincolnshire.
The “going all in” apparently entails financial ‘incentives’ (widely being
described as bare-faced bribes) to the tune of allowing local councils who
permit fracking to retain 100% of the business rates from the shale
development, as well as receiving 1% of the revenues from the respective
company. Even if the area is seen as unviable, if the council allows
exploration, they will receive £100,000 from the drilling company (Pincher, 2014).
Cameron claims that encouraging fracking could create 74,000 jobs (a figure seemingly plucked from nowhere
considering that current explorations are minimal and the industry is just
starting out), and could bring in £3 billion in investment and improve energy
infrastructure in the country (Johnstone, 2014). And yet, Cameron is claiming
his climate commitments remain intact. Well I say they are looking worse for
wear. There are some more understandable arguments, such as if shale gas
replaced the 23% share that coal contributes to our energy mix, then this would
decrease carbon emissions for the 23% share, by 50% (Gross, 2013). However, I
feel the likelihood of this either being regulated for or occurring through
market forces, is slim due to the decreasing price of US coal.
The process of fracking:
Essentially, once the well is dug (approximately 1-2 miles
deep depending on the geology), a solution of water, sand and chemicals – namely
acids to dissolve the minerals, gelling agents to suspend the sand, and other
substances to aid fracturing of the rock (Gross, 2013), is forced down the well
to release the gas.
The perceived dangers:
The (thankfully) widespread opposition to fracking in the UK is based on a few key aspects of perceived effects on the environment and humans. These are mainly:
- The risk of earthquakes and tremors
- Risk of pollution to groundwater and downstream
- Effect of the wells on the landscape
Earthquakes have featured very prominently in the UK media following
the early Cuadrilla earthquakes in Lancashire registering at 1.5 and 2.3 on the
Richter scale, not long after the drilling commenced (Gross, 2013). The main
problem with the risk of earthquakes is that insufficient research has been
conducted in specific areas to ascertain whether this will be an ever-present
risk.
Regarding the risk of pollution, this is also dependent on
location-specific factors such as geology, however the numerous stories (and
now even films) shower the US media with ideas about the effects of pollution,
and even when taken with the necessary pinch of salt, do indicate a relatively
widespread issue. The groundwater pollution is caused when the boreholes have
cracks and the fracking solution reaches an aquifer. This can have ecological
effects and effects for domestic water supply – hence the pictures/videos of
people seemingly setting their tap water alight in the US due to the hydrogen
gas concentration. Environmental effects come in two main categories; huge
water demands that fracking bring (i.e. 750,000 – 1.5 million cubic meters per
frack (BeebeeJaun, 2013)) and the water pollution which occurs through the
wastewater disposal.
The landscape is a key concern, especially in sensitive
areas such as around the Lake District where fracking is being explored
already. The exploration and possible exploitation of shale gas will
exclusively occur in rural regions where the communities are more concerned
about their local environment overall.
The US excuse:
The US have done well from it, with a 75% increase in
natural gas production between 2004 – 2011; mainly due to the exploitation of
shale gas on a massive scale, in some areas of Texas there are up to 12 wells
per km2 (Beebeejaun, 2013)! Their energy prices have dropped –
leading to the EU importing huge amounts of their coal (very climate conscious…
cough). However there are rather a few differences between the US and the UK;
population density, known shale gas reserves, and primarily – land area.
Recent announcements:
The encouragement of shale gas exploration and exploitation is
seen as premature, as Bamberger and Oswald believe that a complete ban on
fracking is required before a full and comprehensive evaluation of the risks
and possible resources present in the UK. This is related to the fact that it
has been speculated that French company Total have only invested in the UK
because France have banned fracking completely, the Netherlands have a
temporary ban until more research is conducted (Revell, 2014) and Germany are
strongly opposed to it. In regards to the financial incentives for fracking,
Sir Cockell (chair of the Local Government Association) responded to the 1% of
company revenues to be given back to local councils as a ‘token’, and he
asserts this should be increased to 5-10% to be in line with global standards,
and this money should be put directly into a community fund (Vaughan, 2014).
Personally, I believe that although gas is a better
alternative to coal, this argument is too flawed to be relied upon, as there is
no guarantee that it would be coal trade which suffers and not renewables. The
point that gas could be used as the transition fuel to a renewable system was
made at least 20 years ago, and therefore exploiting another (harder to access
and less efficient) form of gas should not be used as an addition to this
excuse. The three risks outlined above, although serious if fracking becomes
prominent, are secondary to the issue of the delayed movement to a primarily
renewable system, and in a similar fashion to my previous post on
geoengineering, is distracting from the development and investment in win-win
renewable technology.