The U.K.’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has given approval for hydraulic fracturing operations, as long as operators meet three key parameters. The proposal just needs a final vote for full clearance.
The stipulations from the CCC include strictly limiting greenhouse gas emissions during shale gas development, production and decommissioning; gas consumption must be in-line with U.K. carbon budgets; and emissions from shale gas production must be counted towards the carbon budget.
“The CCC accepts that the government plans are mostly on track but wants more detail,” Professor Jim Skea, a member of the CCC, told The BBC Thursday. “Our recommendation is to monitor what government does because we are making the assumption that we have a very well regulated industry and we need some details filled in on that.”
Some environmental groups have taken issue with the approval by the CCC.
“The idea that fracking can be squared with the UK’s climate targets is based on a tower of assumptions, caveats, and conditions on which there is zero certainty of delivery,” Dr. Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace, told The BBC Thursday.
Others claim the introduction of fracking means the U.K. will be unable to meet its climate change targets. To that end, the National Grid, which operates the country’s electric grid, reported the U.K. is already ‘almost certain’ to miss its 2020 climate change goal of achieving 15% of energy from renewable resources.
