Victoria's Green Matters - 27th April 2011

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

As the old saying goes, ‘it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good’. Since the destruction of the Fukushima power plant in Japan has highlighted possible problems with nuclear, gas producing companies are trying to brand themselves as the sustainable option. In moves that could be disastrous for the burgeoning renewable energy industry, gas companies are labelling themselves as ‘green’ and are lobbying governments to move away from solar and wind power in favour of shale gas.

Burning gas to produce electricity has always produced fewer greenhouse gas emissions than coal; about 50% fewer, in fact. But natural gas supplies are running out and a relatively new discovery, called ‘shale gas’ is set to fill the gap. The production process is called ‘hydraulic fracturing’ or ‘fracking’. There are huge reserves of natural gas trapped in shale rock, many metres below the surface. To extract this gas, sand and water are pumped into the rock and the gas is released. Unfortunately, in the USA, this process has led to poisoned watercourses, land contamination and escapes of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.

The gas industry is trying to persuade the European Union that its 2050 carbon emission targets will be met more cheaply by using shale gas than by investing in renewable technology, such as wind and solar. A study from Cornell University has found that electricity generated from shale gas is responsible for at least as much carbon dioxide as coal and possibly more because the gas is difficult to extract.

It is worrying that governments are influenced by the power and wealth of the gas and oil industries. It is imperative that we should go forward with our investment in renewable technologies. Generating ‘clean’ electricity from wind, solar, wave and tidal power and responsibly produced biofuels is the obvious way forward to a low carbon future