The Energy & Climate Change Secretary has called renewable energy critics ‘curmudgeons and faultfinders’ and says they are ‘selling Britain’s ingenuity short’. Chris Huhne seems to never be out of the spotlight. A couple of weeks ago he was slamming those who doubt the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy sources, such as wind power, and last week he wrote a controversial … Read More
Fracking caused 50 earthquakes – report
Cuadrilla Resources, the company responsible for drilling for shale gas underneath Blackpool, has released the findings of an independent report it commissioned earlier this year. On April 1, a tremor reaching 2.3 on the richter scale was recorded, followed by another of around 1.4 on May 27th after drilling at the Preese Hall-1 well in Lancashire. The company has even … Read More
North sea oil and gas outputs decrease
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has released new figures showing that imported coal is replacing gas and oil from the North sea in the UK fuel mix. The newly released data shows that North sea oil and gas production fell by 16% and 25% respectively in the second quarter of 2011, while coal imports rose 36% in the … Read More
Full extent of shale gas reserves revealed
Cuadrilla Resources estimates that up to 200 trillion cubic feet of gas lies underground near Blackpool. The company that halted the controversial ‘fracking’ process after a minor tremor near Blackpool earlier this year says that the resources found beneath the Northwest of England are extremely vast. Hydraulic Fracturing, or ‘fracking’, is a process which is enabling companies to extract gas … Read More
BHP Billiton invests in shale gas
The world largest mining company has invested £7.5bn into shale gas technology. BHP Billiton has agreed to purchase American shale gas company Petrohawk Energy in a £7.5bn deal, its biggest acquisition to date. It is the company’s second major investment into shale gas technology in the year, as BHP also purchased a gas field from Chesapeake Energy in February.
Shale gas drilling suspended after earthquake
Test shale gas drilling in Lancashire has been suspended after fears it is linked to earthquakes A 1.5 magnitude tremor near a drill site in the north west has lead to Cuadrilla Resources suspending shale gas drilling. The tremor is the second in two months, and Cuadrilla will now wait to review data collected by the British Geological Survey (BGS) … Read More
MPs support UK shale gas drilling
A committee of MPs has urged the government to allow drilling for shale gas A commons committee said on Monday that there is no need for a moratorium on shale gas hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. Just two weeks ago France recommended freezing shale gas drilling permanently, based on environmental concerns about the fracking process.