Game Changer: Britain’s Shale Gas Bonanza

Inflamed environmental groups who say the technology used to extract shale gas is environmentally damaging.

Benny Peiser, --September 22, 2011

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An area in northwest England may contain 200 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, putting it in the same league as some of the vast shale-gas plays that have transformed the U.S. energy industry. --Guy Chazan, The Wall Street Journal, 22 September 2011[Registration required]
Tim Yeo, the Conservative MP who chairs the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, described Cuadrilla’s announcement as “very good news” and “more significant than I had appreciated”. He added that shale gas production should go ahead. “I see no practical or regulatory reason why we should not,” he said. --David Blair, Financial Times, 21 September 2011[Registration required] I've been saying for some time that shale gas won't change everything - it's much more important than that. This is a win for both the economy and the environment and the sooner the green movement re-align themselves with the new reality the better. They cannot win this one. They should climb on board and reassure themselves and the public that shale can be accessed in an environmentally sustainable way. --Nick Grealy, No Hot Air, 22 September 2011
Faced with a looming shale boom, the EU's green lobby is seeking ways to protect Europe's frail and heavily subsidised green energy sector. In sharp contrast, the shale revolution has progressed without any taxpayer-funded subsidies, government targets or tariffs. It is driven exclusively by new technologies that make shale exploration profitable. Europe's conventional climate and energy strategy now faces a huge challenge. Governments would be well advised not to squander this golden shale gas opportunity. --Benny Peiser, Public Service Europe, 9 May 2011 A Black Swan swam into the shores of Blackpool yesterday. A Black Swan is described as a low probability, high-impact event. Like winning the lottery perhaps? It's only natural to check the shale numbers over and over, to look this gift horse in the mouth. But sooner or later you have to make some phone calls. --Nick Grealy, No Hot Air, 22 September 2011 Fracking is an unconscionable gamble with potentially catastrophic results. It has already been banned in France. It should be banned in Britain as well. –The usual suspects, 22 September 2011

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