Yearly Archives: 2012
Fracking on trial: the verdict
A woman from Bristol who climbed a drilling rig in a protest against fracking in December last year was today found guilty under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act at Preston Magistrates Court. She was ordered to pay a £250 fine and £750 costs. Yesterday two other defendants were cleared of charges of aggravated […]
Lawfulness of Cuadrilla’s fracking operation remains in doubt
Yesterday, three people were on trial for a second day at Preston Magistrates Court following their action which shut down Cuadrilla Resources’ hydraulic fracturing site beside the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire in December 2011. Two of the defendants went free when it became clear that the charges against them had been poorly framed. They had […]
Fracking Nukes: Counting the kilotons
- First massive fracturing to produce gas
- Used nuclear bombs at bottom of wells
- 3 tests in US in late 1960s/early 1970s
- Gas turned out too radioactive to sell
- Massive hydraulic fracturing now used
- Comparible amounts of energy expended
- 16 well pad similar to Hiroshima bomb
- Takes weeks rather than an instance
- Damage to geology will be similar though
Fracking on trial – again!
The safety of fracking will be challenged at Preston Magistrates Court this week, as 3 people go on trial following a protest at Cuadrilla’s Hesketh Bank site, Lancashire, in December last year. The trial is expected to last until Thursday. On 1 December 2011, protestors from Bristol Rising Tide occupied the test drilling rig, shutting […]
UK fracker unable to calculate costs or revenue
The part-owner of UK fracker Cuadrilla Resources – AJ Lucas – revealed last week it is unable to value its Lancashire drilling field. The Australian company – which owns 43% of Cuadrilla – hired PKF – a “bad debt and limited resource” consultancy – to value the UK’s favourite fracker. PKF’s report states “there is […]
The Economist: majority against fracking
The Economist magazine recently conducted an online survey which gathered opinions of fracking worldwide. Asking the question: “would you welcome more exploration for shale gas in your country?” a majority replied in the negative with 43.7% responding “definitely not”. The survey, which had 1116 votes cast, is published on the Economist website here.
Osborne relative lunches Polish frackers
The revelation that the father-in-law of UK Chancellor George Osborne is a gas lobbyist provoked little surprise in Poland. As a Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Osborne’s father-in-law, Lord Howell, has been enthusiastically promoting UK investment in Polish shale gas. In early June, Howell met the Polish economy, treasury and foreign affairs […]
Guest blog: URGENT – HELP NEEDED TO STOP BIOFUEL (PROBABLY PALM OIL) POWER PLANT IN SHOREHAM
Biofuel company Edgley Green Power (EGP) has submitted plans for a 32 MW biofuel power station in Shoreham-by-Sea. The power station will burn up to 50,000 tonnes of biofuels a year. That’s 13,950,000 gallons of fuel. To help you visualise this, imagine the exhaust fumes from 5000 transit vans each driving 94,860 miles up and […]