European Parliament: Shale gas: opportunity or threat to the environment?

In the search for alternative sources of energy, extracting shale gas is becoming more popular but do the benefits outweigh the risks? It involves injecting large quantities of water into rock formations to recover gas trapped one or two kilometres beneath the surface. Supporters say the gas offers a clean and low-carbon fuel that could help reduce the EU's dependence on Russian energy supplies. However, critics say it puts the environment at risk, for example by contaminating groundwater

What the European Parliament is doing

As more drilling for shale gas takes place in Europe, people have become more concerned about its possible effects. After the European Commission ruled out creating EU legislation on it last year, the Parliament decided to launch its own investigation. The EP's industry committee and environmental committee are both producing their own report on the situation. This week the environment committee invited experts to evaluate the risks shale gas extraction poses to the environment.  MORE