The Guardian: EU slated for ‘cynical’ €113m shale gas subsidy

Environmentalists have bitterly condemned a new EU research fund which invites shale gas firms to apply for €113m (£90m) of subsidies, under a programme designed to encourage ‘competitive low carbon energy’.

The Horizon 2020 research fund, which runs from 2014-2020, is intended to help identify potential environmental impacts and risks from shale gas exploitation by using satellite observation, developing models and establishing scientific recommendations for best practices.

But the monies will go to gas companies, who would otherwise have had to pay for such research themselves, and campaigners were quick to slam the new awards for contradicting bloc policy on decarbonisation.

''The commission says that it ensures a high level of environmental protection and that it is serious about combating climate change, but at the same time it funds research for the shale gas industry. This conflict of interest cannot be ignored,'' Antoine Simon a spokesman for Friends of the Earth Europe told EurActiv.
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