Huff Post: Shale Gas: The Latest Bandaid for UK Energy Supply
When preliminary tests for shale gas potential in the UK began in 2010, the results were fairly modest. Even so, anti-fracking groups took up the issue with guns blazing, publicly decrying the notion of exploiting these reserves with numerous rallies and demonstrations, some of which have ended in court cases. Public consensus has echoed this hostile stance for the most part, siding with the view that the risks associated with the implementation of drilling look to outweigh the benefits by a country mile.
In recent weeks, however, there have been rumblings of new information that might alter the landscape on this subject. A study by the British Geological Survey has pushed up its estimates for the amount of shale gas in the ground beneath eleven counties in the North of England to approximately 40 trillion cubic metres, towering above the previous figure of 5.3 trn m³. Of course, this doesn't detract from the potential problems caused by fracking, quite the opposite in fact. What may change is the degree to which Government is prepared to be led by the public on the subject of fracking, and widespread use of the method in the name of continued energy supply.