h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-14990573

Apparently "huge" reserves of shale gas have been found in Lancashire. I've heard contradictory things about shale oil drilling - is this a good thing for Britain or a bad thing?

Didn't they stop drilling a couple of months back, because of earth tremors in the region?

they were not sure if there was a direct link or if it was a coincudence, they are expecting the results soon

Ooookay... When will they admit it isn't coincidence to the locals?

So frack is a real word then! I am learning so much these days!

Hootoo is very edickashunal, Lanza

For me, frack is a formal suit, the penguin style suit with tails. But that just comes from being Swedish, I suppose.

I thought the UK was moving rapidly towards renewables?

Fracking, like deep sea oil drilling, is part of the last gasp of the oil economy. We're trying more expensive and dangerous technologies because the cheap oil (etc) is running out. It would make more sense if this was going to be used to increase the rate of green technologies, but it's not. It's driven by profit motive (greed) and the need to keep the consumer economy growing.

Fracked gas is environmentally unsound, locally and in terms of climate change. They're trying to do that here in NZ too, and from what I understand it's newish (in its modern form) and so it's likely there is much we don't understand about it. The NZ company pushing this is being touted as a leading world expert, which of course doesn't mean much when nobody knows what they're doing

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Shale gas *is* renewable. In time.

We're short on time now too.

it will relieve the relieance on european/russian gas, and could give us the window of opertunity to expand our renewable portfolio

Has the UK agreed to anything in terms of its GHG emissions?

Have we agreed to anything? Yeah, I think we've promised to cut ours to the size of a Chinese hamlet's.

Meanwhile -

Earth Moves For Lancastrians During Fracking.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15550458

"It is "highly probable" that shale gas test drilling triggered earth tremors in Lancashire, a study has found."

Drilling as stopped because protesters have got onto the site.


http://www.indymedia.co.uk/en/2011/11/487838.html

Kea,
regading emissions at the very least there is the Climate Change Act 2008

Key provisions of the Act
a legally binding target of at least an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be achieved through action in the UK and abroad. Also a reduction in emissions of at least 34% by 2020. Both targets are against a 1990 baseline.
from the Department of Energy & Climate Change http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/cc_act_08/cc_act_08.aspx

Gas and CO2 aside, isn't the problem the contamination of ground water?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U01EK76Sy4A

(Flaming tap water)

I live relatively near the fracking site,
I used to live in the same town, thankfully we moved since

I am deeply concerned over the fracking, it has caused earth tremors
and I beleve that there was some sort of fire they then tried to blame on sabotage, till the police found no evidence of sabotage at all...


of course this was released in our local paper

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/business/fylde_fracking_jobs_boost_hope_1_3794808

seems hard to argue with

Has everyone seen Gasland the fantastic documentary film by Josh Fox?
It's all about the shale gas industry and fracking and the damage it does to the lives and environments around which it takes place.

The amount of devastation that occurs through run off fracking fluids is really horrifying, contaminating water supplies, killing local wildlife and in certain cases the locals could even set fire to their own drinking water.

Anyone from the area that wants to raise awareness could do worse than to get in touch with dogwoof.com the UK distributors for Gasland (and lots of other great social issue films), they have something called pop-up-cinema which means that an ordinary person can set up a cinema night with one of their films.

Just a thought.