Government upholds fracking appeal in landmark ruling

According to the BBC, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire.

A proposed second site, Roseacre Wood, has not yet been awarded permission to go ahead amid concerns over the impact on the area.

It means, for the first time, UK shale rock will be fracked horizontally, which is expected to yield more gas.

However, protesters say it uses techniques that risk the environment because of the chemicals and pressure used.

Environmentalists and local campaign groups reacted angrily to the decision, with Friends of the Earth campaigner Pollyanna Steiner calling it a "betrayal of local people". "Fracking goes against everything we need to do to tackle climate change. The government must end its fixation with dirty fossil fuels and focus instead on harnessing the UK's huge renewable energy resource," she said.

Lancashire County Council refused permission to extract shale gas at both sites last year on grounds of noise and traffic impact, but Cuadrilla appealed.

In horizontal fracking, the well is turned horizontally at depth to extract gas from a layer - or layers - of shale rock.

It is seen as far more productive than conventional vertical drilling, which goes directly through the seam and reaches a smaller area.

Drilling companies believe trillions of cubic feet of shale gas may be recoverable from beneath parts of the UK and more than 200 onshore exploration licences have been awarded to energy companies.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/06102016/government-upholds-fracking-appeal-in-landmark-ruling/