Comment on CCC report on fracking and climate change
Committee on Climate Change warns on climate impact of fracking for shale gas
By George Smeeton
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Commenting on a report on the climate impacts of fracking for shale gas, published today by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: "Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom confirmed this week that the government remains committed to the Climate Change Act and to cutting Britain's emissions - and as this report makes clear, a willly-nilly approach to shale gas isn't compatible with that commitment.
"Shale gas is not automatically a 'low-carbon' technology, as ministers and some in the business sometimes claim - it can result in a lowering of emissions, but that depends on two factors, leakage rates, and what it displaces in the energy mix.
"If the government intends to pursue shale gas responsibly, it needs to mandate a very tight cap on leakage and penalties for exceeding it, and make clear that shale gas will not displace truly low-carbon forms of energy such as nuclear power and renewables - otherwise it risks diverting Britain from the carbon reduction path to which the government is committed."