Climate: Would Corbyn Really Ban Fracking?

Fracking is back in the UK. Oil exploration firm Cuadrilla started drilling on August 17 with the intention of beginning hydraulic fracturing to release trapped shale gas by the end of the year in Lancashire. The Labour Party has consistently stood against the process but with an urgent need to provide more energy at a lower cost it is unlikely there will be an outright ban.

The Government issued the first onshore exploratory licences for shale gas in 2008 but fracking was halted in 2011 after earth tremors in Blackpool were attributed to the process.

Damaging?

Fracking has been a point of fierce political discussion with many seeing an opportunity to vastly extend dwindling fossil fuel supplies for profit.

Campaigners argue that fossil fuels are still damaging however they are sourced and that fracking represents a backward step in fighting climate change by investing in technology that does the opposite.

The process blasts high pressure water and chemicals deep into the ground and critics are concerned about the chemicals poisoning water supplies.

Finally while the UK is deemed to have huge shale gas potential such a densely populated country immediately faces the problem of “not in my backyard”, as the 2.2 magnitude Blackpool tremors proved succinctly.

Labour’s Manifesto

After campaigning for some time against fracking Labour continued that principle in its 2017 manifesto. “Labour will ban fracking because it would lock us into an energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels, long after the point in 2030 when the Committee on Climate Change says gas in the UK must sharply decline,” it said.

Just one year ago the then “unelectable” Jeremy Corbyn launched his environment and energy manifesto in Nottingham, where coal-mining and manufacturing were once major industries.

“Research shows that as much as 80% of known fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned if the world is to keep global temperature rises to 2C [above pre-industrial levels],” Corbyn said, declaring that fracking was incompatible with climate goals.

Low cost Energy

What has to be questioned about Labour’s approach is that it has consistently prioritised the provision of low cost energy for consumers above climate change. Some analysts estimate that wholesale gas prices could fall by a fifth if fracking took off in the UK.

The manifesto said that Labour’s energy policy “is built on three simple principles: To ensure security of energy supply and ‘keep the lights on’. To ensure energy costs are affordable for consumers and businesses. To ensure we meet our climate change targets and transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Government regulator Ofgem estimates that if fracking met up to 21% of national demand then wholesale gas prices in the UK could be cut by between 2% and 4% between 2020 and 2034 from their current levels. Meanwhile gas is cleaner to burn than coal, emitting 50-60% less carbon dioxide.

Electric Future

Another issue to consider is the taxes on energy bills used to fund renewable resources. The Office for Budget Responsibility says the cost of the green subsidies is expected to rise by almost £10bn by 2021-22.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has drawn attention to the energy demands of the coming generation of electric cars, which will improve the air quality of our cities but transfer emissions onto the National Grid. It is estimated that 10,000 new wind turbines will be required in the run-up to the 2040 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

“The story around gas is that it’s critical to our supply now and will continue to be in future,” said Roisin Quinn, head of strategy at National Grid. “We see it as having a long-term role as a reliable, cost effective and flexible energy source, and it will be favoured by many consumers.”

What is clear is that gas is not going away and whether we extract it from UK shale or import it from abroad it will be used for decades. To make electric cars and renewable energy a success in the long term it seems that fracking remains an important consideration now for both consumer costs and, as Corbyn’s manifesto put it so plainly, keeping the lights on.

by Stewart Vickers

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