Fracking no longer viable, says government advisor

Billy Briggs on December 14, 2015
A leading academic who was an advisor to the Scottish Government on fracking no longer believes that unconventional gas development is viable, saying it has been “fatally undermined” following an energy policy U-turn by the UK Government.
The Ferret can also reveal that Professor Paul Younger – who holds the Rankine Chair of Engineering at the University of Glasgow – has resigned as a director from a company that wants to practice underground coal gasification (UCG) in Scotland.
Professor Younger is an expert on systems, power and energy who was appointed to the Scottish Government’s expert panel on unconventional gas to advise on fracking.
He advocates unconventional gas as a source of energy but speaking to The Ferret after the UK government’s announcement regarding carbon capture and storage (CCS), he said the Conservative Party’s new position meant pursuing fracking and UCG would be pointless.

Last month the UK Government said it had cancelled a £1bn competition for CCS technology just six months before it was due to be awarded.
The decision led to Shell and Scottish Southern Energy cancelling a CCS project in Peterhead with the former saying it would now focus on other countries.
CCS traps carbon dioxide from coal and gas power plants and buries it underground so it cannot warm the climate, which, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is important to tackling climate change cost-effectively.
In response to the UK Government’s policy change, Professor Younger said: “I have always said that unconventional gas should only be considered an option provided we are making serious moves towards full-scale CCS.”
“Given the announcement my position is that the ethical platform for any perpetuation of fossil fuel use in the UK (or by others on our behalf) has been fatally undermined.”
“I do not support unconventional gas development without at least a reasonable hope of CCS becoming available in the foreseeable future, and the recent shock announcement by the Westminster government has effectively dashed all such hope.”
Critics of the unconventional gas industry said Professor Younger’s comments were extremely damaging for energy company INEOS which is vying to frack in Scotland.

Read the rest of the article at the fantastic Ferret: https://theferret.scot/top-government-advisor-says-fracking-no-longer-viable/