announcement that UK government expect to see 20 to 30 new fracking wells in the north of England.
Councils allowing the fracking will be paid a slice of the action
“This is a naked attempt by the government to bribe hard pressed councils into allowing fracking in their
area” claimed Lawrence, and no doubt there will be lots of opposition to this controversial industry adding
“Cameron is effectively telling councils to ignore the risks and threat of large-scale industrialisation in
exchange for cold, hard cash”
So what is Fracking and why is it causing such a stir? And why is “Dodgy Dave” as he has been called by
protesters so keen to get the local councils involved?
Fracking is a term used to describe a type of mining for Gas and Oil; Hydraulic Fracturing is the correct
term is a technique used to recover Gas and Oil from shale rock. The ground is drilled from the surface into
the shale rock underground then a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas or
oil inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow
out to the head of the well. Forcing the high pressure liquid into the shale rock causes the rock to fracture
and release the fossil fuels, hence the nick name of fracking.
(image courtesy of bbc.co.uk)
Fracking is causing a stir with protesters such as Greenpeace for various reasons, the process of fracking
involves huge amounts of water being pumped into the ground to fracture the shale rock and release the
fuels within, it is the transporting of water as well as the waste water being contaminated that causes
concern, also recent fracking tests in Blackpool, Northern England was reported to cause earth tremors
measuring 1.5 and 2.5 magnitude on 2011.
The issues has hit the headlines again after French company Total revealed that it is the first company to
pledge funds up to £30m to help drill two exploratory wells in Lincolnshire in the North of England. It is
the first major fuel company to pledge investment but no doubt others will follow with the UK
government’s advisers claiming that an estimated 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas present in the north of
England this could be very lucrative investment indeed.