David Cameron set out the economic benefits
including cheaper energy bills for millions, tens of thousands of jobs and
windfalls for communities which are sitting on vast reserves of shale gas. He also pledged that fracking would not
damage Britain’s countryside and would only result in a “very minor change to
the landscape”.
'It’s been suggested in recent weeks that we want fracking to be confined
to certain parts of Britain. This is wrong. I want all parts of our nation to share
in the benefits: north or south, Conservative or Labour. We are all in this
together'.
Mr Cameron made clear that the potential
benefits are too good to ignore. He said that fracking has “real potential to
drive energy bills down”, adding: “It’s simple – gas and electric bills can go
down when our home grown energy supply goes up.
There were also large rewards on offer
to communities which find themselves sitting on vast reserves. He said: 'Companies have agreed to pay £100,000 to every community situated near an
exploratory well – somewhere where they’re looking to see if shale gas exists. If shale gas is then extracted, one per
cent of the revenue – perhaps as much as £10million - will go straight back to
residents who live nearby'.
He said: 'We must make the case that
fracking is safe. International evidence shows there is no evidence why
fracking should cause contamination of water supplies or other environmental
damage, if properly regulated'.
'If properly regulated'. Ah yes, its called Privatisation. Give pigs wings and they will fly.
Here is the argument against fracking presented as facts quoted from http://www.dangersoffracking.com
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of drilling and
injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale
rocks to release natural gas inside.
Each gas well requires an
average of 400 tanker trucks to carry
water and supplies to and from the site
It takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete each
fracturing job
The water brought in is mixed with sand and chemicals to create fracking
fluid. Approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used per fracturing.
Up to 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluid, including known
carcinogens and toxins such as…
The fracking fluid is then pressure injected into the ground through a
drilled pipeline.
500,000 Active gas wells in the US X 8 million gallons of water per fracking
The mixture reaches the end
of the well where the high pressure causes the nearby shale rock to crack,
creating fissures where natural gas
flows into the well.
During this process, methane
gas and toxic chemicals leach out from the system and contaminate
nearby groundwater.
Methane concentrations are 17x higher in drinking-water wells near
fracturing sites than in normal wells
Contaminated well water is used for drinking water for
nearby cities and towns.
There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination
next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory,
respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated
water
The waste fluid is left in
open air pits to evaporate, releasing harmful
VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) into the atmosphere, creating
contaminated air, acid rain, and ground level ozone
In the end,
hydraulic fracking produces approximately 300,000 barrels of natural gas a day, but at the price of numerous environmental, safety, and
health hazards
There are numerous YouTube videos showing water on fire from drinking pipes in areas of Australia and other hazards in the USA. The sheer amount of water used and problems of storing and disposing of contaminated waste alone is alarming not to mention the demand for eater during a drought.
There is nothing so blind as greed. Effort should surely be increased to reduce our energy consumption and develop alternative technologies?
