America's expectation that it will be independent of imported fuel before the end of the present decade because of its fracking bonanza is a tempting point from which to start a discussion about Britain's fracking potential. However, it could be misleading. The process involves the extraction of oil and gas from underground shales by hydraulic fracture . The equivalent of the American vision is that Britain probably has shale gas reserves some seventeen times the remaining reserves in the North Sea. Faced with difficult decisions about energy supplies in the future the government has jumped at this new source and given the go-ahead to exploratory projects.
The optimistic ministerial and media expectations have been overplayed in the past few days. To begin with, UK shales are shallower and more fragile than those in America and might prove to be more difficult to work and less productive. The sites used have been compared in appearance to surface coal mining -- not an important consideration in America's unlimited acres but of considerable concern among Britain's limited unspoilt landscapes.
As yet there is no clear picture of how extensive UK fracking resources might be; for the moment only Lancashire and Sussex have been identified as the most likely areas. What is already certain, however, is that safety and environmental controls of the strongest kind will be necessary if fracking proves to be a viable prospect.
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