Is shale gas a sustainable solution?

The average British home has an annual fuel bill of £1,252. Energy bills have risen more than five times quicker than a typical household’s income in the past eight years. A quarter of Britain’s homes are now in fuel poverty - with energy bills accounting for more than 10 per cent of earnings. A grand total of six companies provide energy for almost every Brit.

This is before the “energy gap” is factored in; studies claim Britain faces up to a 20 per cent shortfall in energy production by 2015, as a quarter of our coal and gas plants face closure because they’re too old, too polluting and too wasteful.

Britain’s economy is exposed, not insulated. The squeezed middle constantly has to contend with turbulent, geo-political gas and oil markets, while also paying a premium to import fuel from abroad.

We talk too much of rising tides and fearful storms. Climate change policies make economic sense, providing security, efficiency and independence. But in this great age of austerity, with unemployment benefit, frontline policing, adult education and a hundred other budgets being cut to the bone, can the taxpayer really be expected to embark on a sustainable spending frenzy? With families and businesses struggling to heat their homes and fill their cars, can spending now be justified on the long term?

Chancellor George Osborne believes he has found the answer. A cheap, low carbon, native fuel that isn’t controlled by some Middle Eastern despot. It lies in the ground underneath the good people of Lancashire and Sussex.

Shale gas, or hydraulic fracturing, is an extremely low carbon fossil fuel. Allowing a commercial company to tap it would provide an easy bounty to the treasury’s coffers. Assuming it can be got at, gas is cheaper than both on and offshore wind energy (£96.50 per MegaWatt hour to £146.30 for onshore and £179.40 for offshore, according to CIVITAS.

With this in mind, Britain is gearing up for an almighty "dash for gas", with up to 30 new gas-fired power stations proposed to be built over the next 20 years.

As Steve Radley, Director of Policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, says: “The government continues to demonstrate a shift to a more balanced energy policy. Shale gas is a potentially game changing resource where, in the US, it has slashed energy prices and helped spur a re-industrialisation. As we continue to struggle to rebalance our economy and balance our books, we cannot ignore this potentially significant resource. Well-regulated exploration is the sensible approach.” 

What could go possibly go wrong? The answer is - almost everything. Shale gas has never been tapped in Britain before. No-one knows whether it is possible to extract it, or if it is safe. It if is, how long it will take, and will it make commercial sense? Even then, what kind of impact it will have on the purity of our water, the sanctity of our horizons, even the ground we stand?
 
Hydraulic fracturing has a history in England, and it didn’t end well. In May 2011, fracking near Blackpool was suspended after it lead to small earthquakes. If you thought living near a wind farm was disrupting, just wait for flaming geysers and seismic tremors.

Caroline Lucas, the MP for Brighton and the former leader of The Green Party, says: “Residents close to drilling sites in Lancashire and Sussex have rightly expressed fears about fracking and the risk of pollution to drinking water, as well as the impact of such a water-intensive process on areas affected by drought.
 
“While these concerns – and those about the implications of shale exploitation for the climate –  remain unanswered, the decision to give a green light to fracking is deeply irresponsible.
 
“This is an irrational obsession and a costly gamble, bringing serious risks of future price rises.”

How many men have shouted to the hilltops they have discovered gold, only to realise they’ve been duped? Fools gold is easy to find; the real thing comes at a higher price.

Our government has an obligation to pursue a self-sufficient, secure future of affordable, renewable energy. But the taxpayer holds the cards. We can continue to pay for ever more expensive energy. We can place our faith in snake oil, pipe dream policies. But at some point we must take a deep breath, open our wallets and actively endorse an energy policy that will last as long as the wind blows.