UK fracking gets the go-ahead

In a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry, the government has given its go ahead to horizontal fracking, reports Brian Davis. Within minutes of Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announcing approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire, there was a plethora of angry reaction from environmentalists and local campaign groups claiming it was a denial of local democracy.

Nevertheless, industry reaction to government permission to frack UK shale rock horizontally for the first time was very positive. Permission for fracking at a second site at Roseacre Wood still awaits approval.

Given heated local and environmental opposition, Lancashire County Council refused permission to extract shale gas at both sites last year on the grounds of noise and traffic impact, but Cuadrilla appealed. Cuadrilla Chief Executive Francis Egan repeatedly maintained: ‘We have been through an exhaustive environmental impact assessment on everything including noise, traffic, water, emissions, etc.’ Furthermore, the Environment Agency approved of the fracking programmes.’

Local protesters have sworn to continue the fight. Pam Foster, co-founder of Residents Action on Fylde Fracking, said: ‘This is a total denial of democracy… We have pursued every democratic channel we can do, there’s nothing left for us. We’re pretty disgusted and very upset.’ She said campaigners would continue to fight fracking. 

Friends of the Earth campaigner Polyanna Steiner said: ‘Fracking goes against everything we need to do to tackle climate change.’

On the industry front, Dr Jenifer Baxter, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: ‘This is a step in the right direction but fracking alone is not the solution to meeting the UK’s future energy demands. It has the potential to contribute to securing gas supplies and creating much-needed highly skilled jobs in regions such as Lancashire and Yorkshire, in a time of uncertainty around markets, investment and supply.’ She noted that ‘our incumbent heating networks are between 40–45% of our total energy use in the UK and are hugely dependent on gas.’

However, Dr Baxter also recognised the need to address the ‘thousands of objections’ that have been lodged about the fracking plans and said: ‘A lot more work needs to be done by engineering institutions, oil and gas companies and those in favour of trials like this to engage the public. Hydraulic fracturing of rock for shale gas extraction is new to the UK and we need to progress step-by-step to ensure that it can be exploited safely and economically here. All parties need to gain experience together and build trust.’

Mike Foster, Chief Executive of the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), welcomed the government’s decision to allow fracking in Lancashire, ‘which provides the industry with the opportunity to put its words into action and prove that UK shale reserves can be extracted safely and commercially’. Foster noted that the shale industry will create over 64,000 new jobs across the supply chain ‘together with additional tax revenues which will contribute significantly to UK plc’. 

Licence to drill
‘Notwithstanding the possibility of a judicial review, Cuadrilla now has the necessary permits and planning approvals to move ahead with its drilling programme at Preston New Road; thus one could say it has a “regulatory licence” to operate,’ said Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy at Warwick Business School. He argued that although the industry has a “political licence” from the national government in London, Cuadrilla still lacks support from the local government in Lancashire. ‘Equally, it does not have a “social licence” to operate that can be conceived of as ongoing acceptance or approval from the local community and other stakeholders. That said, the harsh reality is that the social licence has no standing in the regulatory regime that governs shale gas development in the UK.’

The social issue was also taken up by Chris Lewis, Energy Advisory Partner at EY. He commented: ‘Producing gas at home can reduce the UK’s reliance on imports and help bring energy bills down. We should not hamstring ourselves by dismissing the development of shale gas in the UK without first fully exploring how it can work and the potential economic prize on offer.’ But he also noted: ‘We need to address the concerns of local communities and build a domestic industry that can provide local employment and ensure the process is safe and minimises local disruption.’