Bishop Hill Really desperate times
Dec 13, 2012 Energy: gas With ministers expected to annouce a go-ahead for Cuadrilla today, the green movement is in overdrive, wailing and gnashing their teeth. Fiona Harvey gets her retaliation in first:
Household energy bills will be about £600 higher per year by the end of the decade if the UK relies increasingly on gas, the government's climate advisers warned on Thursday.
But the Committee on Climate Change found that bills would only be £100 higher than today's average dual fuel bill of about £1,300, if the country concentrated on renewable power generation, such as wind power.
The CCC estimates use the DECC assumption that wholesale gas prices will rise by 27% and that gas will continue to be loaded with extra costs. Given that Poyry are now saying that exploiting the Bowland Shale alone will reduce gas prices by 2-4% (a figure that is likely to be on the low side), I would say Ms Harvey is a bit behind the times.
Funny that.
Bishop Hill
Ed Davey's statement is here. It is important to note that the government has authorised exploration, not production.
Reader Comments (102)
I like the thought that a new department for "unconventional" stuff will make it easier for shale....
The easiest way to slow things down in the UK is to invent another department, with another minister, and a rake of new staff...most of who would not know shale gas from a shovel.
The formation of that department is not a green light, it is amber on the way to red.
Look at the maximum seismic event of 0.5....
Geoff Chambers stated that the Greens are tabling a European (Soviet) Union law against Fracking. If you want to start marshalling opposition, try going to a realist party - namely UKIP. They're doing very well in the polls and are sensible when so-called Climate Change is concerned!