On September 16, 2015,
the UK Task Force on Shale Gas published a report entitled “Assessing
the impact of shale gas on climate change.” The report
examines the potential climate impacts of shale gas extraction in the UK and
how it would affect the introduction of renewable or low-carbon technologies
into UK climate change policy. This report follows two preceding reports,
respectively entitled “Planning,
Regulation and Local Engagement” and “Assessing
the Impact of Shale Gas on the Local Environment and Health.”
After analyzing the
transferability of renewable energy into the UK energy mix,, the Task Force
observed that the development of renewable energy likely would not meet the UK
energy demands in the near future. The Task Force also emphasized that the
potential climate impacts of shale gas development will be comparable to those
of conventional gas extraction and will be much lower than those of LNG
transportation. As a result, it concluded that “there is a requirement for
[shale gas] to play a significant role in the UK’s energy mix in the short and
medium term.”
The Task Force
recommended that the “government should commit to deploying the government
energy-specific revenue derived from a developed shale gas industry to
investment in research and development . . . and innovation” so as to enhance
new and innovative forms of low carbon energy generation, storage, and
distribution.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
09/21/2015
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