Now it’s a question of getting the green light, so to speak, from DECC. Cuadrilla is hopeful of DECC approval for its strategy, “Clearly at the moment DECC are going back and looking for further points for substantiation and that is absolutely right that they should,” said Kelly. All that is needed is for DECC to allow Cuadrilla to proceed with caution. With IGas recently announcing that it had drilled through what it considered to be a significant shale gas resource in the Bowland Shale recently, while it was looking for coal bed methane (CBM) gas, then the UK government may just have an ace up its sleeve to bring more affordable energy to its homes and businesses. In the US, DECC approval for Cuadrilla to proceed with its plan would probably be considered to be a “no brainer.” However, this is England, the regulations are much tougher and the political fall-out of being perceived to get it wrong could be major. On balance, however it would not be a surprise, providing Cuadrilla’s scheme stacks up with the scientists, to see DECC give its approval on this occasion. --Ian McInnes,
Industrial Fuels and Power, 13 February 2012
Britain’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 20 trillion cubic feet, which will produce perhaps enough energy for the next 100 years. This is, to put it mildly, a claim that cannot be made about Britain’s wind farms. And this is what infuriates the environmental lobby: the discovery of shale threatens to make redundant their carefully planned, heavily subsidised plans for renewable energy. There may be no energy crisis after all. At present, more people die from the cold in Britain — because they are unable to afford to heat their houses — than are killed on the roads. This is an appalling state of affairs for a supposedly rich country. Britain could be on the cusp of a new era of clean, cheap shale energy — but only if we seize the opportunity, as the Americans have. –Editorial,
The Spectator, 13 February 2012
Billionaire investor George Soros attributes part of his favorable economic outlook for the U.S. to the nation's shale resources, he said in a weekend TV interview. “The economy definitely shows some signs of revival," Soros said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS. "Very important is the revival of shale gas and shale oil as a cheap source of energy which has made manufacturing more competitive. --Pierre Bertrand,
International Business Times, 13 February 2012
The policy has indeed succeeded in uniting much of the world – against the EU. In an unlikely diplomatic chorus, the US, China, India and Russia have all lambasted Europe’s plan to extend the reach of its emissions trading scheme (ETS). Beijing last week barred its airlines from the system. Next week, the US and China will gather with more than 20 other nations in Moscow to plot a counter-strategy, including possible retaliation some fear could lead to a trade war. Beneath the international uproar lurks an inconvenient truth: the carbon market, the world’s largest, and the linchpin of Europe’s effort to lead the world in the fight against global warming, is in turmoil at home. Johannes Teyssen, chief executive of Eon, the German energy group that is one of Europe’s largest, stunned an audience in Brussels last week when he pronounced the market broken. “Let’s talk real,” he said. “The ETS is bust, it’s dead.” --Joshua Chaffin,
Financial Times, 14 February 2012
