The growing anti-fracking movement has become a major headache for the gas industry. Rising from nowhere eighteen months ago the movement has become so large that these days gas drilling is rarely mentioned without a second word: “controversial”. This is not simply a UK phenomenon. In the US thousands of people regularly protest against gas […]
Category Archives: Blog
Direct Action used by blockaders in New South Wales
Blockades and actions across Australia are enjoying high levels of community support. Numbers alone are not necessarily enough. But adding direct action tactics to a well informed, challenging and potentially disobedient crowd create major headaches for the drillers and the authorities. In some cases the atmosphere of a town fete with […]
Fracking Nightmare: Destroying Our Countryside
- New UK government energy strategy
- Increases reliance on natural gas
- Assumption that fracking can fill gap
- Minor onshore oil and gas in UK to date
- Fracking requires huge amount of drilling
- 54,000 wells to supply 40 power stations
- Would cover 7,000 sq miles (size of Wales)
- 36,000 wells to offset North Sea decline
- Would cover an additional 4,700 sq miles
- Massive impacts give population density
Defining Extreme Energy: A Process not a Category
- Extreme energy often defined as a category
- Alternative is extreme energy as a process
- Easy to extract resources targeted first
- As depleted, more intense extraction needed
- Extraction effort will steadily increase
- Energy extraction displaces other activities
- Process has happened throughout history
- But now the process is massively accelerating
- Driven by unsustainable energy consumption
Foolish Energy Minister shows fractures within 720 feet of Balcombe village
When recently-appointed Energy Minister John Hayes showed his lack of fracking knowledge last month this political huckster inadvertently highlighted a troubling fact: at Cuadrilla’s site in Balcombe, West Sussex, fractures could reach within 720 feet of the surface. Hayes claimed a Durham’s study “categorically refuted” suggestions that fracking fluids could get into aquifers. This sort […]
How To Object
NEW APPLICATION 05/13/0018 Anna’s Road EIA for First Horizontal Well Quick Links 08/12/1032 BECCONSALL EXPLORATION SITE, BANKS P/12/0521/FUL LETHAM MOSS FALKIRK 12/00576/FUL POWDRAKE ROAD NEAR AIRTH 12/04304/FUL Keynsham (with great guidance) Guidance Lancashire County Council has issued guidance to residents as to issues that are “material” to the application and valid planning issues. Valid Scale, […]
Government “Open for Consultation” but moving decision making further away from the people
The Government have two “Open Consultations” about “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning” which close on the 7th Jan. The first is about “Extending the regime to business and commercial projects”, projects that are not nationally significant or infrastructure. The list includes large office developments, manufacturing and storage facilities, conference and exhibition centres, Leisure, tourism, sports and recreation […]
Fracking Desperate: The Scramble For Unconventional Gas
- Second Dash for Gas pushed by government
- Idea totally disconnected from reality we face
- North Sea gas production in terminal decline
- UK gone from exporter to major importer
- Competition with Asia cutting LNG imports
- Imports from Europe unlikely to grow
- Consumption now being forced down
- Gas much more scarce and expensive
- Not the time to get even more addicted
- Establishment willing gamble on shale
- Because they will be insulated from costs