Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Unconventional and Unburnable: Why
going all out for Shale Gas is the Wrong
Direction for the UK's Energy Policy
TONY BOSWORTH
ABSTRACT
Despite the Prime Minister's statement that we must go 'all out for
shale', there remain major doubts about whether this is the right dir-
ection for the UK's energy policy. Unconventional oil and gas, such as
shale gas, risk locking the UK into the use of fossil fuels at a time when
meeting climate change targets means we need to be reducing their use
rapidly. Despite claims by the industry and its supporters that fracking
is safe, there is considerable evidence of impacts on the local en-
vironment and human health from the US, where unconventional gas
production has grown significantly in the last decade, and from
Australia. There are also doubts about whether the UK's proposed
regulation of the industry will be adequate. The Prime Minster claims
that shale gas will cut UK energy bills, despite most experts thinking
that this is, at best, unlikely. The UK needs to move fast towards an
energy system based on much-improved energy e
ciency and using
the UK's huge potential for renewables. In this context, shale gas is a
gamble we do not need to take.
1 Introduction
The UK Government has nailed its colours firmly to the shale gas mast. The
Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said that we must go ''all out for
