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Recent Discussions |
Fracking: a technological innovation too far?September 2013James Woudhuysen, Joanne Green, Erik Bichard and Tony Bosworth introduced a discussion on fracking
Alongside the introduction of some more developed techniques to extract gas and oil from previously hard to mine sources, fracking is the latest of these technologies to pose a serious option for governments and industry to invest serious levels of resources into. This isn't a technique without its critics though, and the political climate set against high-tech solutions hasn't gone away, even though the wind has been taken out of its mills recently. So how much of a change has there been in the climate of political opinion in this second dash for gas?
The discovery of enormous reserves of readily exploitable shale gas and other ‘unconventional’ sources of energy have transformed previously pessimistic discussions around an ‘energy crunch’, and with predictions that the US could be entirely self-sufficient by 2030, and the UK and Europe not far behind. Not only might Western nations no longer need to rely on volatile supplies from the Middle East: some leading experts suggest North America could become its rival, even its supplier. So could the spectres of brown-outs, oil shocks, and fuel rationing really be banished now?
Some background readingsUK data and analysis for shale gas prospectivity, by N Smith, P Turner and G Williams, Geological Society of London 2010 Is fracking environmentally friendly? Andrew Simms and Rob Lyons debate in The Guardian 23 September 2011 Fracking and Fukushima: our energy security fears, Battle of Ideas 30 October 2011 Seven reasons why we don’t need shale gas, by Helen Rimmer, Friends of the Earth briefing March 2012 Shale gas: energy solution or fracking hell? by Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth briefing March 2012 James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change, Lecture on TED Talks, 7 Mar 2012 UK dash for gas would be illegal, says climate committee, by James Murray, Guardian 13 September 2012 Shale Gas to the Climate Rescue, by Alan Riley, The New York Times opinion pages 13 August 2012 Fracking firm Cuadrilla plans new well at St Annes site, BBC News 21 August 2012 Doha: It's the end of the world as we know it, by Rob Lyons, spiked 5 December 2012 Ignore the doom merchants, Britain should get fracking, by Boris Johnson, The Telegraph 9 Dec 2012 Climate change: apocalypse postponed, by Rob Lyons, spiked 6 February 2013 The Facts on Fracking, by Susan Brantley and Anna Meyendorff, New York Times 13 March 2013 UK steals vital lead on Europe in shale gas stakes, by Peter C. Glover, The Commentator 25 March 2013 So shale gas could meet demand for 40 years. What then? by Andrew Simms, Guardian 28 June 2013 Turning FACT Inside Out, by Denis Joe, Review of FACT exhibition for Manchester Salon July 2013 Balcombe: colonised by fracktivists, by Rossa Minogue, spiked 8 August 2013 An Open Letter To Fracking Frack Inc About This Fracking Stuff, by John Robb, Louder Than War 19 August 2013 What’s Behind the Balcombe Fracking Protest? video by Dan Clayton of some Balcombe protestors, September 2013 Watch video of the speaker and audience discussion below. Thanks to Dan Clayton the documentary filmmaker from Leeds for this.Discussion Partners
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