This house would restrict the use of ‘fracking’ to extract natural gas from shale
The precautionary principle has no universally accepted definition, the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development defined it as 'Where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.'[1] Shale gas is a term used to describe natural gas trapped as hydrocarbons within saturated rock formations, especially the sedimentary rock shale. Although quite widespread, until the past decade or so shale gas has not been much exploited as an energy source as it cannot be extracted easily and cheaply by traditional drilling techniques. In recent years this has changed as higher energy prices have made investment in shale gas fields more worthwhile, and improved extraction techniques have meant that unconventional sources of energy can now be exploited more easily. The main process involved in extracting shale gas is hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), where a fluid is forced down a well to create a build-up of pressure in the rock below, forcing it to break up and allowing the gas contained within it to be recovered to the surface.
Shale gas formations can be found across much of the Eastern and Central parts of North America. Exploitation first took off in 2000; the number of wells in the Barnett shales of Texas grew from less than 600 to over 9000[2] in the eight years to 2008. Other deposits being exploited include the Marcellus shales of New York and adjacent states, and the Haynesville shales in Louisiana and Texas. There is now interest in exploiting similar deposits across the border in Quebec, as well as in Poland and the UK within Europe.
Proponents of shale gas argue that it can provide a vast new source of reliable and economical energy, as well as helping industrial economies move towards a lower-carbon future. But sceptics doubt the economic viability of the sector, question its environmental impact, and raise serious safety concerns. These voices are becoming increasingly influential in the USA, and are attempting to block the exploitation of shale gas in Canada and Europe.
[2] Pickett, Al ‘Barnett Shale Technology, Tenacity Lead to Success’, The Permian Basin Petroleum Association Magazine, Issue 5, August 2008, http://www.pbog.com/index.php?page=article&article=26
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