Fracking unresolved health issues. The UK Government’s heath watchdog, Public Health England, warned in a report published nearly five years ago “If the natural gas delivery point were to be close to the extraction point with a short transit time, radon present in the natural gas would have little time to decay … there is therefore the potential for radon gas to be present in natural gas extracted from UK shale.”
David Lowry’s Blog 26th July 2018 read more »
Government’s last mintue approval of fracking an example of its profoundly dated thinking. The move flies in the face of the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation that ministers seize ‘golden opportunity’ presented by energy from renewable sources which could provide 50 per cent of the UK’s requirements by 2030 without adding to bills. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said in a report I covered in this column that the UK would not be able to achieve its emissions targets while relying on natural gas. It called upon ministers to instead seize a “golden opportunity” to invest in energy from renewable sources. Renewables now provide 30 per cent of our energy. That figure has risen from less than 12 per cent in the space of just five years. It could reach 50 per cent by 2030 without, according to the NIC, adding a penny to consumers’ bills. The same cannot be said of the Government’s fondness for nuclear power given the fancy prices guaranteed to the developers of a new plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset that critics fear could easily prove to be a white elephant.
Independent 25th July 2018 read more »
