Wednesday 28 August 2013

Co-operative position on Shale Gas


The Co-operative is campaigning for a clean energy revolution. As part of this campaign they are calling for a moratorium on the development of shale gas and 'fracking' in the UK.

An excellent outline of exactly why extracting Shale gas is a bad idea is given here in a report  by researchers at Tyndall Manchester, who released an assessment of the environmental impact of shale gas expansion. This latest report, commissioned by The Cooperative, updates their January 2011 work. 

Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at Tyndall Manchester said:

“As the Government’s Committee on Climate Change make clear, for the UK to meet its binding carbon targets, electricity needs to be decarbonised by 2030 with domestic heating having moved from high carbon gas to low-carbon electricity.”
“With so little time to meet these commitments, there is no meaningful emissions allowance available for shale gas. Moreover, pursuing shale gas electricity risks displacing urgently required investments in genuinely low carbon energy supply. Consequently, the Government faces a difficult choice; to lead a new and low-carbon energy revolution or stick with high carbon fossil fuels, forgo its emission targets and relinquish its hard won international reputation on climate change.”


An excellent interview with Professor Anderson can be found here




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