[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-15998841

Previously : Three fracking protesters come down from Lancashire rig

Three protesters who spent more than 12 hours on a shale gas drilling rig in Lancashire have come down.

The two women and a man climbed the rig, where tests for the controversial process known as fracking is taking place, at 07:30 GMT on Thursday.

Police said they came down at about 21:00 GMT and were being questioned. Two others have already been charged.

Energy company Cuadrilla, which owns the rig at Banks, said it had "nothing to hide" about its operations.

It said the protesters were not local, had "not bothered" to participate in dialogue and were using up police time.

The protesters said they were from Bristol Rising Tide group and intended to occupy the site for several days in order to halt the drilling.

Fracking is the process of drilling into hard shale rocks to release the gas.

Concerns have been raised that the process could contaminate water supplies and may cause small earth tremors.*

Lancashire police said a 40-year-old woman and 42-year-old man, both from Bristol, have been charged with obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity and have been bailed to appear before Ormskirk Magistrates' Court on 20 December.

*An independent geological report has found that it is "highly probable" a controversial technique to extract gas, known as fracking, triggered two minor earthquakes on the Lancashire coast earlier this year.

I felt the earth move .....

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17726538

A controversial technique to extract shale gas, known as fracking, should resume in the UK, a government-appointed panel of experts concludes.

Test fracking by the Cuadrilla company near Blackpool stopped last year after two quakes were felt at the surface.

The panel believes there will probably be more quakes but that they will be too small to do structural damage above ground. It recommends more monitoring.

The panel's report now goes out for a six-week consultation period, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) issuing a firm set of regulations at some point after that.

The panel agrees with a Cuadrilla report from late last year that test fracks at the company's Preese Hall site did cause two earthquakes of Magnitudes 2.3 and 1.5 in April and May.

But they differ from that report in saying that similar events could well happen again.

I'm not happy about this decision .....

[Scarlett.]

Looking forward to more quakes in my town :/

[arista]

Originally Posted by Chewy

Looking forward to more quakes in my town :/

Yes they say Frack Off
in the meetings.



Will they find Gas
and make money?

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20707574

The government has given the go-ahead for a firm to resume the controversial technique known as fracking to exploit gas in Lancashire.

The company, Cuadrilla, was stopped from fracking after two tremors near Blackpool.

Conditions have been imposed to minimise the risk of seismic activity.

The Energy Secretary Ed Davey said shale gas was a promising new potential energy resource for the UK. It might contribute significantly to energy security and substitute for imports which are increasing as North Sea gas is decreasing.

But he warned against over-excitement: "We are still in the very early stages of shale gas exploration in the UK and it is likely to develop slowly.

"It is essential that its development should not come at the expense of local communities or the environment. Fracking must be safe and the public must be confident that it is safe."

He said the government had uncovered management weaknesses in Cuadrilla following the minor earthquakes. These had been put right, he said.

He said impacts on water and local air pollution were already covered by the UK's existing "stringent" rules on oil and gas.

'Better solution'

Mr Davey said the advent of shale gas would not weaken the UK's legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He announced a study from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) chief scientist David McKay on the impact of shale gas on climate change.

But he asked: "Is it not better that we produce gas in this country than gas shipped half way across the world?" He said his view was that, overall, greenhouse gases from shale gas in the UK might only be slightly greater than importing gas exploited in the conventional way.

In the US, exploitation of shale gas boom has sent energy prices tumbling, and the Prime Minister has expressed hopes that the UK can enjoy a similar boom.

But government advisers warn today that shale gas may be unlikely to bring down energy prices much in Britain.

In fact, the Committee on Climate Change warns that relying heavily on gas for future electricity supplies would leave households vulnerable to higher bills in the long run as the price of gas on the international market is volatile.

The UK won't benefit from substantially lower prices unless the rest of Europe decides to back shale gas too, as Europe has a gas grid that allows gas to be traded to the highest bidder.

Today's fracking decision has created political excitement as the Prime Minister the Chancellor and some business leaders have spoken enthusiastically about shale gas.

Environmentalists are more cautious following incidents in the US in which fracking has been associated with pollution of water through the chemicals involved in the process, as well as leakage of methane - a powerful greenhouse gas as well as a local air pollutant.

They say fracking will generate much more opposition in the UK than it has in the US as it involves turning green fields into industrial sites.

They also worry that an abundance of domestic gas will tempt politicians to abandon targets for cutting greenhouse gases, which are rising inexorably globally to the alarm of scientists.

A poll suggested that people would prefer to have wind turbines on the horizon than gas rigs.

Steve Radley, Director of Policy at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said the UK should do whatever possible to keep energy costs down: "This is a major threat that needs to be addressed now as we cannot continue to load industry with costs which are in excess of our competitors.," he said.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour's Shadow Energy Secretary, said: "Labour has always said that fracking should only go ahead if it is shown to be safe and environmentally sound. If the Government believes that this is the case then we will look carefully at their proposals.

"But the idea that this form of gas extraction can have the same impact here in the UK as it has had on gas prices in the United States is considered wishful thinking by most experts."

I suggest fracking for Chipping Norton .....

[arista]

So long as they Stop Fracking
if any homes sink

[Livia]

I've got to say it, another idiotic idea by the government, who seem intent on losing the next election by a landslide. No pun intended.

[arista]

But its starts again in England next Year.

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-21222747

Shale gas resources in Lancashire could be worth billions of pounds, says the head of the energy firm test drilling for the resource.

Cuadrilla Resources chief executive Francis Egan said it also has "huge economic potential" for Lancashire.

The firm announced it is to apply to resume fracking at its Anna's Road site in St Annes on Monday.

Tina Rothery of Residents Against Fylde Fracking (RAFF), said the process posed "huge risks to the environment".

It was temporarily banned in the UK after it was blamed for two earth tremors in Blackpool in 2011.

A government review has now concluded that fracking is safe if adequately monitored.

Now we get to the nitty-gritty - money .....

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-21769805

The shale gas company Cuadrilla has delayed its plans to carry out fracking in Lancashire until 2014.

It is to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) at its existing and planned new sites where drilling and hydraulic fracturing will take place.

It said explorations have already found the 1200 sq km licence area holds at least 200 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Chief Executive Francis Egan said the assessments could be "lengthy" but should be finished by next year.

He said Cuadrilla's explorations in Lancashire's Bowland basin suggested gas with a market value of Ł136bn was present.

It is now looking for planning consent for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and flow testing to take place.

The firm has applied to Lancashire County Council to frack for shale gas at its Anna's Road site in St Annes and Banks, near Southport.

Mr Egan said: "We recognise that within the complex UK regulatory framework governing planning this process can prove lengthy but we are determined to spare no effort in meeting our exploration targets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner."

He said Cuadrilla is also planning more temporary exploration sites during 2013 and 2014 to assess gas flow rates.

These plans would be discussed with local communities, he said.

Local Communities Say Frack Off .....

[Kizzy]

Hang on they said north sea gas was being exausted?
Well Blackpool is in the north and it's near the sea... Who are they trying to kid all they want is a cheap way of getting it, but at what cost to the environment?

[Kizzy]

''Lord Browne, the former chief of BP and now the most senior business adviser to the coalition government, has vowed to defy environmentalists to invest "whatever it takes" – potentially running to billions of pounds – in the controversial UK "dash for gas".

In a rare interview Browne, chairman of Cuadrilla Resources, the UK's only shale gas driller, and managing partner at Riverstone Holdings, the venture capital firm that backs it, told the Guardian that despite so far sinking what industry insiders estimate to have been hundreds of millions of pounds in Cuadrilla's shale operations without a return, much more would follow''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...e-uk-shale-gas

So the key words are... venture capitalist, shareholders, profits.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

''Lord Browne, the former chief of BP and now the most senior business adviser to the coalition government, has vowed to defy environmentalists to invest "whatever it takes" – potentially running to billions of pounds – in the controversial UK "dash for gas".

In a rare interview Browne, chairman of Cuadrilla Resources, the UK's only shale gas driller, and managing partner at Riverstone Holdings, the venture capital firm that backs it, told the Guardian that despite so far sinking what industry insiders estimate to have been hundreds of millions of pounds in Cuadrilla's shale operations without a return, much more would follow''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...e-uk-shale-gas

So the key words are... venture capitalist, shareholders, profits.

Yeah, and the taxpayer pays the fracking bill ..... :mad

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-22284340

An energy company's brochure about the safety of fracking has been banned over misleading and exaggerated claims.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld six complaints made by anti-fracking group Refracktion about the 2012 Cuadrilla leaflet.

In an adjudication, the ASA said the leaflet, which was distributed to homes in Lancashire, "must not appear again".

Cuadrilla's chief executive Francis Egan said the company were "disappointed".

Mr Egan added the company would: "Continue to provide the best scientific information to those people who live in the communities where shale gas exploration will take place."

Cuadrilla has applied to Lancashire County Council to frack for shale gas at its Anna's Road site in St Annes and Banks, near Southport.

In 2012, it posted a leaflet containing information about the process to thousands of properties across Lancashire.

The ASA upheld six out of 18 complaints made by the anti-fracking group and partly upheld one more, stating Cuadrilla had breached guidelines governing the areas of misleading information, exaggeration and substantiation.

A Refrackion spokesman said there were: "Many people in Lancashire trying to make rational, fact-based decisions about the potential impact of fracking on their communities, and this misleading information has made this much more difficult than it needs to be.

"Now that the ASA have recognised that many of the claims made in this leaflet were misleading and were not capable of substantiation, we believe local people will realise that they need to look much more critically at the information put out in future by Cuadrilla."

He added that it was "unfortunate Cuadrilla will not be made to publish any sort of apology" over the brochure.

Cuadrilla are fracking liars .....

[Benjamin]

That's weird, I was reading up about Fracking today.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Ben

That's weird, I was reading up about Fracking today.

Have you got a fracking problem .....

[Benjamin]

I always have a fracking problem.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Ben

I always have a fracking problem.

[lostalex]

okay don't frack. but don't complain about gas prices from russia then...

I wonder will the UK public also refuse to receive gas from other places in Europe that do use fracking? cause if you don't, then you're just hypocrites. Where do you intend on getting your gas from then?

It's like the people who constantly drone on about solar and wind, but when they try to build a new wind farm "oh we don't want that monstrosity HERE!" it will ruin our view!

can't please anyone, can you?