Global scientific study says fracking will not help tackle climate change

An important peer-reviewed letter about fracking has appeared in Nature, the world’s foremost scientific journal. It says that global CO2 emissions are likely to be worse with fracking. This is useful to use with your MP or others who argue that fracking for gas or oil is “green” because it will be a bridging fuel before low carbon energy sources kick in. The scientists look at 5 different models to determine effects on climate change.

It is written in classically impenetrable scientific language, but its main points are that:

-          A fracking ‘boom’ would produce lots of gas, leading to an increase in total energy supply
-          This would drive gas prices down. Because the gas would be cheap, it would be unlikely to displace coal, and simply be burned in addition to coal that is already used.
-          Due to the cheap price, it would also squeeze out renewables and other low carbon energy sources
-          Global CO2 emissions are likely to be up to 10% higher than they would be without fracking
-          An international climate deal or global carbon price is needed to solve the climate crisis

The full article is available on request. Guardian summary here and Climate News here.