The British (Gas) Revolution has Started
With Cuadrilla Resources drilling the UK’s first shale gas well in Lancashire marking the beginning of the ' shale gas revolution', the BBC Radio 4 show Costing the Earth presented Blackpool: the new Dallas.
The program examined the prospects for an energy revolution from gas trapped in shale formations and the environmental considerations involved in extracting the resource, with spokespersons from opposing sides expressing their viewpoints.
The program states that the Deepwater Horizon disaster has spurred on the search for land-based sources of hydrocarbons as opposed to those available in ecologically sensitive areas.
Shale gas has its merits:
Shale gas exists in large quantities and promising sources lie close to many big energy-intensive cities.
In terms of electricity production it is a cleaner power source than coal or oil, and new horizontal drilling techniques are making it easier to reach.
Costing the Earth discusses the enormous Marcellus shale gas field, which exemplifies both financially attractive and ecologically concerning aspects associated with shale gas drilling.
Cuadrilla is targeting gas trapped 10,000 feet below the surface in the Bowland shale, which runs from Pendle Hill near Preston to the Irish Sea.
The drilling near Blackpool marks the very beginning of a long process, and it could take years before any of the gas it finds is being used in Britain.
The revolution has started, but it has not yet arrived.
The show will be repeated at 13.30 BST, 0830 EDT on Thursday, September 9.
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