Britain must double down on shale gas and offshore wind to defend itself

Britain is sitting on two energy jackpots. The Bowland shale gas basin in Lancashire and Yorkshire is a least five times thicker than America’s prolific US fracking zones, and large enough to replace the exhausted reserves of the North Sea.  The BGS estimates   that the Bowland basin holds 1,300 trillion cubic feet of gas. If a tenth can be extracted – and US frackers can do better than that – it would cover Britain’s entire gas needs for half a century. Current use is 2.5tcf a year. The formation adjoins  the world's most competitive wind fields on the shallow banks off the east coast of England and Scotland. Advances in technology are turning this reserve into a potential profit maker. The greater the scale, the cheaper it gets. The scope is almost limitless. The Offshore Wind Industry Council last week unveiled proposals for a vast expansion in offshore turbines to 30 gigawatts, making wind the backbone of the UK power system by 2030.