26 roundtable: environmental issues ... continued from previous page


to other countries, partly due to such energy development having moved out of national favour.


The same ‘generation gap’ had occurred with coal-mining technology and skills following the shutdown of UK pits, said Copping. Ironically, experienced UK miners, often near retirement, were now helping the global industry.


Could shale gas fracking be a UK energy solution?


Although oil use is in decline, if the UK were aiming to replace its oil dependency with shale gas by 2020, Reel estimated that more than 10,000 UK drilling points would be needed. “That’s a lot of NIMBY- ism to get through.”


Copping agreed, but said shale gas extraction, despite being tarred by the emotively named ‘fracking’ process, could actually be a viable energy resource forming part of the UK’s future energy solution.


“Shale gas has had a huge effect on US energy prices which has the potential to reduce global gas prices and dominate energy markets for the foreseeable future.


that shale gas could make things “too easy for the next 20 years and people would give up on renewables” and that NIMBY-ism and environmental or planning issues would unduly hamper development of the industry.


Copping noted that evaluation of concerns about shale gas extraction revealed a focus on noise, traffic and infrastructure worries with groundwater contamination being “about 11th or 12th on the list.” The media publicised fracking as an environmental issue, but in reality local concerns were simply about the introduction of something new into an area. “I think a more informed media would help the debate.”


It is also perceived as a large-scale ugly industrial process, which actually would not be the case in the UK, noted Farrow. “When you drive near Wytch Farm oilfield you don’t see it, but you cannot miss Didcot Power Station when driving in South Oxfordshire,” Copping added.


Hillier felt shale gas should be viewed as a windfall for the nation, taking the pressure off renewables and allowing innovators to develop the right technologies for the future. “It could see us over a period of transition.”


Roscoe: “We need to do it because I cannot see nuclear coming over the horizon any time soon.”


Copping added a word of caution: “What you have got in the ground is potential, what you get out is reality. I believe we should proceed with shale gas extraction, while at the same time pushing the development of renewables.”


What can the Government do to help?


Farrow suggested: David Murray


“So, the UK options are to leave it in the ground and buy it in from abroad, or exploit our own UK shale gas. Eastern European countries are already exploring shale gas as it potentially provides a relatively cheap gas supply and provides increased energy independence and security. The only real conflict is the fracking process itself. One wonders if that concern is more about shale gas reducing energy prices and slowing down the development of renewables, or whether it is really about the shale gas recovery process.”


Farrow felt there was no reason not to do fracking in the UK as part of a mixed energy solution. His concerns were also


www.businessmag.co.uk


• A revised look at the Green Tax debate. “The Government is desperate for income and simple fiscal measures can be very effective in driving markets. Increasing LT makes sense, for example."


• Cross-party consensus on fiscal and energy policy would help companies plan long term.


• A smartmeter roll-out would promote energy efficiency.


Hillier agreed that cross-party consensus “for the sake of the nation, as we had in the 1940s, 50s and 60s,” would be beneficial. ”If you are going to change energy markets for important national reasons then you have to make fundamental decisions and stick to them.”


Roscoe said planning reform was the essential need. “It’s so frustrating to get anything done. We have become a nation that says ‘NO’ to everything.”


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2013


Farrow: “Up to the 1970s people liked infrastructure. It was seen as post-war regeneration that the country needed, I suppose. But then attitudes started to change, until now communities tend to be suspicious of any new infrastructure. The problem is that any infrastucture investment is based on forecasts, eg waste arisings or travel demand projections, so it is always possible for intelligent objectors to put forward a plausible case against the proposal. How you get out of this vicious circle I don’t know.”


Sean Reel


Copping agreed that infrastucture development was an issue. “But, while the public broadly views infrastructure in terms of transportation of people, we see it as including the energy provision network overall, and currently renewables are not being designed to link with our existing infrastructure.”


Reel suggested:


• Making waste management a mandatory part of the school curriculum. “All school children should visit a waste management facility to see what happens when they throw something away – hopefully in a bin.”


• Providing better incentives to promote energy-use change.


Larcombe agreed: “The right incentives are not there for the right people. Planning is also a nightmare, not helped by the overuse of social media with everyone talking to each other all the time.”


Yarrow agreed that legal changes to the planning procedures would assist, ensuring that the process was redesigned to facilitate and not suppress or frustrate development. More broadly, Yarrow felt that achieving consumer engagement was essential either through education or incentives, but ultimately the current mindset meant that creation of energy policy would always come back to money.


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