Entries in Energy: shale (12)
Josh RSPBonkers - Josh 264
Mar 14, 2014 Energy: fracking Energy: shale Josh RSPB Wind turbines 
Not to mention the wind turbines' need for tons of steel and concrete, the devastation of the countryside, permanent loss of habitat and noise pollution. And they produce little energy for no reduction in CO2 emissions. Barbaric vandalism.
H/t BishopHill and Ron Hughes' grandson
Bishop Hill King's credibility
Jan 8, 2014 Energy: shale
Updated on Jan 8, 2014 by
Bishop Hill
In an article in the Guardian last year, Fiona Harvey described Sir David King's concerns over shale gas development. The great man was apparently not impressed.
Sir David King warns against fracking
Former UK scientific adviser says gas from unconventional sources could have huge environmental consequences
That was the headline, and the impression that he was against shale development was repeated right at the start of the article:
Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government, has warned of the "enormous environmental consequences" of attempting to fulfil the UK's gas needs by fracking...
Bishop Hill Mackay and King on shale
Jan 7, 2014 Bureaucrats Climate: Parliament Energy: shale David Mackay, chief scientist at DECC, and David King, Foreign Secretary's climate change adviser will give evidence to the Lords' Economic Affairs Committee on shale gas this afternoon at 3:30pm. The video will appear below.
Bishop Hill Fracking roundup
Aug 27, 2013 Energy: shale
Updated on Aug 27, 2013 by
Bishop Hill
There's quite a lot of newspaper coverage of fracking this morning, which will no doubt be of interest to readers.
In the Telegraph, Robert Mair, who headed the inquiry by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering into the technology, gives a level-headed summary of the risks - such as they are - and the responses.
Neil Hamilton, the eccentric Tory turned UKIP bigwig, has a green-bashing piece in the Express
Bishop Hill Greens back shale
Aug 23, 2013 Energy: shale This is a bit of a turnup for the books:
One [green] group in Surrey set up to encourage sustainable living has come out in favour of exploration and fracking, the process which may have to be used in future to extract the oil and gas.
Transition Dorking says it has surprised even itself.
But it looked at the evidence and came to the conclusion producing fuel locally may be less damaging to the environment than importing fossil fuels.
They should expect a visitation from the climate police, I would say.
Bishop Hill Balcombe open thread
Aug 17, 2013 Energy: shale It will be interesting to see if things turn nasty in Balcombe this weekend, so I'm going to leave this thread up for anyone who has any news to impart. The weather forecast is not good, which may dampen things down somewhat, but the threat of violence from environmentalists has led to Cuadrilla suspending operations already. The thugs and their apologists in Westminster and the left-wing press have already won a major victory.
The battle over shale gas extraction feels like David Cameron's miner's strike - the threats of violence are the same, the longing to put the UK's lights out is the same, the stakes are just as high.
I'm really not sure that Cameron is up to this though.
Bishop Hill
Apparently the Times is reporting that the British Geological Survey is going to report that there are very large quantities of shale oil underneath the Weald. Paywalled story here.
Bishop Hill On geography
Aug 12, 2013 Energy: shale Cuadrilla commissioned Poyry to carry out an analysis on the impact of shale gas on bills. It found that European shale gas (including gas outside the UK) could moderate bills by 2-4%, compared to where they would otherwise be. As a Cuadrilla spokesperson put it, the research showed the impact of UK shale appeared ‘basically insignificant’.
From 2021, gas prices are between 2% and 4% lower if Lancashire shale gas production proceeds as projected.
From the Poyry report cited by Damian Kahya.
Perhaps I'm missing something.
Bishop Hill
Damian Kahya's post has now been updated. He has heard from Poyry and the 2-4% figure is for worldwide shale, including Lancashire, but based on the estimates of Lancashire shale as at summer 2012. I guess this means prior to the new BGS estimates of the size of the Bowland resource. I'm slightly bemused why it would be worldwide shale.
Bishop Hill Post-truth media
Aug 12, 2013 Energy: shale Greens Media In this morning's Telegraph, David Cameron has issued another call for the country to get behind shale gas.
...my message to the country is clear – we cannot afford to miss out on fracking. For centuries, Britain has led the way in technological endeavour: an industrial revolution ahead of its time, many of the most vital scientific discoveries known to mankind, and a spirit of enterprise and innovation that has served us well down the decades. Fracking is part of this tradition, so let’s seize it.
That's all fine and dandy, but take a look at what the BBC has to say in its coverage of the PM (H/T Ron).
Josh Fracking concerns - Josh 233
Aug 9, 2013 Energy: fracking Energy: shale Josh
Given the recent protests about Fracking, I thought some cartoons on the subject might be a good idea.
Suggestions for further Fract Sheets are very welcome!
Update: Andrew pointed out that the birds were missing in the Wind Turbine half of the cartoon. Now added.
Bishop Hill Public opinion on shale and energy
Aug 5, 2013 Energy: costs Energy: gas Energy: grid Energy: nuclear Energy: other Energy: shale Energy: wind Yougov has published a poll of UK public opinion for the Sunday Times, which this time round includes a number of questions about shale gas exploitation and energy policy in general. These are the questions and main responses. The segmented responses can be seen in the original document here.
I'm not sure that it tells us very much, except that the public are a bit mixed up on these questions.
Shale gas is natural gas trapped under sedimentary rock, which is extracted using a method known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking". There are large reserves of shale gas in parts of England. Some people think that using shale gas could be a solution to Britain's energy needs. Other people think that fracking is a dangerous technique that risks contaminating ground water and causing minor earthquakes. From what you have seen or heard about the issue, do you think Britain should or should not start extracting shale gas?
Josh Sans raison - Josh 228
Jun 28, 2013 Energy: costs Energy: shale Energy: wind Josh Wind turbines 
Andrew Simms hilariously titled article is here. It is so funny I have just repeated it. He seems to be worried that we might have too much prosperity, be able to keep the lights on for longer and generally ignore mad renewable schemes like Wind turbines for many many years. This sounds like great news to me.
