Fracking will ruin Yorkshire's countryside: Yorkshire Post Letters

Once again we have the usual propaganda in favour of fracking, promoted by and on behalf of big business.

Fracking protests play into the hands of RussiaThe lights will not go out if we don’t frack. Less than three per cent of our gas comes from Russia. So President Putin can’t turn the supply off. Leaving the EU will not stop supplies from Norway, Holland and Belgium.

Why the words 'ban fracking' will dominate the next electionIn October 2017, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published the report with the title “Gas Security of Supply”.

We still need fracking to keep the lights on in the UKLooking ahead over the next 20 years, it says (Page 14): “Whilst the government is optimistic about the potential for shale gas in the UK, given the industry is currently in an exploratory stage, it is not yet known how much of the UK shale gas resource will ultimately be recoverable. In order to provide a conservative estimate of supply, supply forecasts used in CEPA (2017), assume no shale contributions in the forecast period.”

Mayor's fracking legal challenge dismissedThe document goes on to say that there will be security of gas supply without shale gas during the forecast period – i.e. up until 2035.

Energy produced by non-fossil fuels already exceeds the energy produced by fossil fuels and is increasing, so that by 2035, the UK’s requirement for gas will be considerably less than it is now.

Fracking requires a grid of well pads, each comprising two hectares, at a density of 10 to every 100 sq.km (38 sq.miles) – i.e. one two-hectare drill pad every one and a half to two miles in every direction. It will completely industrialise the countryside and ruin our agricultural and tourist industries – industries which will have to play a key part in our economy post-Brexit.

And as for hydrogen? I was taught that hydrogen can be and is produced by electrolysis of water. Fracked gas is not essential for this.