How to overcome local objections to the risk of unhealthy
pollution? Promise to make them millionaires and that is exactly what tax-evading,
union-busting INEOS has done.
Ineos has never drilled wells before, but believes it can be
successful because it has hired three experienced executives from the US shale
boom. Ineos said wells had successfully been bored next to schools, churches
and even close to the centre of large cities such as Fort Worth, Texas. “It is
possible to drill wells in densely populated areas, but we don’t think that is
necessary,” said Gary Haywood, the chief executive of Ineos UK.
Scientists from the UK Energy Research Centre told the BBC
that promises of lower prices and greater energy security from UK shale gas
were lacking in evidence. “It is very frustrating to keep hearing that shale
gas is going to solve our energy problems – there’s no evidence for that
whatsoever, it’s hype,” said Prof Jim Watson, UKERC research director.
Simon Clydesdale, energy campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said
investment was essential to transform the UK energy system, but not “giant
speculative bets” on unproven and risky resources. He added: “Ineos have jumped
on a spin-powered bandwagon which is going nowhere. Independent academics
recently called out government ministers over the ludicrous levels of hype
around shale gas, saying ‘shale gas has been completely oversold’. It seems
that Ineos have based their business plan on breathless PR brochures rather
than scientific reports.”
The British Geological Survey has estimated that the Lowland
valley in Scotland could contain about 80tn cubic feet of gas and 6tn barrels
of oil. But it said: “The relatively complex geology and limited amount of
good-quality constraining data result in a higher degree of uncertainty to
resource estimation than in England.” BGS said Scotland’s shale reserves were
modest compared with England’s.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/20/ineos-founder-wants-shale-gas-revolution-in-uk
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