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Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid’s decision to give the go-ahead for fracking in Lancashire is revealing, says letter writer Kevin Anderson. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty
Sajid Javid’s decision to give the go-ahead for fracking in Lancashire is revealing, says letter writer Kevin Anderson. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty

In their clamour for shale gas, ministers forgot the climate agreement

This article is more than 7 years old

No amount of spin or legal obfuscation can reconcile the UK government’s clamour for shale gas with its obligations as enshrined in the Paris climate change agreement. Consequently, when the UK’s communities secretary, Sajid Javid, gave the go-ahead for fracking in Lancashire (Report, 7 October), he was making a clear statement that the government has no interest in abiding by either the spirit or the maths of the Paris agreement.

Shale gas is a high carbon energy source. When used for generating electricity its emissions of carbon dioxide are about 30-90 times higher than the full lifecycle emissions of either renewables or nuclear. Given the rapid phase-out of the UK’s existing coal power stations, shale gas will not be produced at sufficient scale and in the necessary timeframe for it to be a substitute for coal.

Even assuming that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies work at scale – and the UK government recently reneged on its manifesto promise to develop CCS – the emissions from a shale gas power station with CCS will still be 10 times more than that of genuine low carbon power generation.

The Paris agreement’s most ambitious aspiration is to hold the rise in global temperature to no more than 1.5°C. The global energy-only carbon budget for 1.5°C is set to be used up in 3-13 years of current global emissions; ie by 2030 at the latest. This would mean a UK shale gas industry having barely five years of meaningful production. Surely the huge cost of clinging to the last vestige of a fossil fuel industry could be better invested in a low carbon transformation?
Kevin Anderson
Professor of energy and climate change, Universities of Manchester and Uppsala (Sweden)

Malcolm Cohen (Letters, 11 October is missing the point. As we generate electricity by solar power, we can use it locally. Currently those of us with solar panels can heat our hot water tanks before exporting to the grid. Soon we will charge batteries, either in our own home or at a local community site, to power our homes when it’s dark or too overcast. There will be no need to increase the electrical transmission network; in fact there will be no need to even maintain it. This brings with it the added benefit of security from local failures from say storm damage, and making it far more difficult for terrorists to disrupt the supply network.
Richard Bull
Woodbridge, Suffolk

I was disappointed that the letters on fracking (11 October) did not mention the vast amounts of shale gas and oil known to exist under the South Downs national park. Why is this not being exploited? It may be that it is assumed that national parks are protected from industrial development. However, permission for a new potash mine within the North Yorkshire national park was given on the basis of national priority. Could it be that too many influential people live in the vicinity of the South Downs?
Howard J Curtis
Liverpool

More on this story

More on this story

  • The gap between ambition and action in tackling global warming

  • Commissioner accused of 'cronyism' as his force stops policing fracking protests

  • Protester hit by van at Cuadrilla's Lancashire fracking site – video

  • Fracking activists in Lancashire lose high court bid to stop drilling

  • With entry charges and oil sponsorship, the Science Museum has lost its way

  • Anti-fracking protesters take government to court in Lancashire

  • Antarctic marine reserves deal within reach as Russia thaws environmental stance

  • Japanese anti-nuclear candidate wins election at site of world's biggest atomic power station

  • Shale gas firm Cuadrilla brands anti-fracking activists 'irresponsible'

  • Cuadrilla starts work on Lancashire fracking site

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