John Aston (former Envoy for Climate Change at the Foreign Office) said: “You can be in favour of fixing the climate, or you can be in favour of exploiting shale gas. But you can’t be in favour of both at the same time.”
The Government states that its climate change targets are to produce 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% on 1990 levels by 2025 and by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050.
However, recent actions seem to contradict this. Their manifesto includes a commitment to ensure “that the [oil and gas] sector continues to play a critical role in our economy and domestic energy supply”. They have shown their support for fracking and have been exploring ways to facilitate getting shale gas to production levels. Such as relaxing regulations on seismic events, make exploratory drilling a permitted development and include Fracking in NSIP (Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects). They continue to pour money into the shale gas industry whilst removing the subsidy on solar energy and putting barriers in the way of other renewables.
Our planet is warmer now than at any point in the past 800,000 years and heating fast, mainly as a result of the huge increase in the amount of coal, oil, and gas usage, pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Other factors also contribute, such as deforestation, which means trees absorb less of these gases.
Fracking releases large amounts of natural gas, both CO2 and methane, directly into the atmosphere. Fracking wells leak 40 to 60% more methane than conventional natural gas wells. This happens when water is forced down into a fracking well in order to fracture the rock formations. Methane flows up the well and is released into the atmosphere before it can be captured. The leaked methane is called “fugitive methane” and has been detected using infrared videos.
Fugitive methane is identified as different from naturally occurring methane. Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas and can trap 20 to 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2. Scientists studying fracking in the US estimate that in the next 20 years fugitive methane will make up 44% of the US’s GHG emissions. Along with contributing to global warming and pollution, methane leaks kill plants and trees, contribute to ozone formation, and cause natural gas explosions.
Fracking is the fossil fuel industry’s latest false solution to our energy challenge. It’s more expensive, more polluting, and more dangerous to climate change than clean, renewable energy. So why are we pursuing fracking in the first place? We need to concentrate on using less energy, converting to renewables, stop using fossil fuels, leave the coal in the ground and ban fracking.
Surely addressing climate change should be the number one priority for the world.
Join us for more information at our meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm in Suite 2 Old Station, High Street, Edwinstowe NG21 9HS.
Pauline Meechan
Frack Free Sherwood Forest and Edwinstowe