55m years too late for fracking
Scots expert says drilling won’t work in UK Skills crisis to hit costs
THE UK is unsuitable for fracking and the opportunities for the new energy source have been “over-hyped”, a Scots geoscience expert has claimed.
Professor John Underhill, chief scientist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, suggested the UK is “55million years too late” for the gas extraction technique to work.
He said reservoirs of shale gas had been damaged by seismic activity 55million years ago, causing some of the deposits to escape.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves drilling into the earth then injecting liquid into the rock at high pressure, forcing apart fractures and allowing gas to escape.
Opponents of the technique claim it will harm the environment. Supporters say it is a beneficial source of energy.
Underhill said: “Both sides of the hydraulic fracturing debate assume that the geology is a ‘slam dunk’ and it will work if exploration drilling goes ahead.
“But the science shows our country’s geology is simply unsuitable for shale oil and gas production. The implication that because fracking works in the US, it must also work here is wrong.”
Underhill highlighted three potential fracking sites which he said have been subject to deformation – the West Lothian Oil Shale, the Weald basin in southern England and the Bowland Shale in Lancashire.
He said: “It would be extremely unwise to rely on shale gas to ride to the rescue of the UK’s gas needs, only to discover that we’re 55million years too late.” up 49.2 at 7433.0 GKN GlaxoSmithKline Halfords Hays HSBC Imperial Brands International Airlines Grp ITV Kingfisher Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Marks & Spencer Morrison National Grid Next Old Mutual Pearson Prudential Reckitt Benckiser 320.7 1504.0 317.3 171.0 748.0 3226.5 630.5 169.5 307.4 1029.0 273.1 65.4 324.8 249.1 964.3 4264.0 208.7 624.0 1828.0 7406.0 +6.1 +9.5 -2.3 +2.1 +3.5 +5.0 -0.5 -0.4 -0.8 +9.0 +2.4 -0.2 +1.9 +1.7 -1.4 -7.0 +6.7 +3.5 +16.5 +11.0 Oil = $50.64 RELX 1690.0 Rentokil Initial 292.3 Rio Tinto 3456.0 Rolls-Royce 913.0 Royal Mail 402.9 RSA 651.5 RBS 263.9 J Sainsbury 242.6 SSE 1430.0 Severn Trent 2247.0 Serco 108.0 Sports Direct 414.1 Shell 2167.0 Sky 956.5 Smith & Nephew 1377.0 Smith WH 1829.0 Stagecoach 182.1 Standard Chartered 776.1 Standard Life Aberdeen 435.9 TalkTalk 194.0 Taylor Wimpey 192.4 THE cost of big building projects will be driven up by a skills crisis, the boss of Balfour Beatty has warned.
Leo Quinn said a shortage of trained engineers, in particular, will be a huge challenge in the years ahead.
It comes as the UK gears up for a wave of major infrastructure projects, such as the High Speed 2 rail line, Hinkley Point nuclear power station and the proposed Heathrow airport expansion.
Brexit could worsen the skills shortage as EU workers are deterred from coming here, or head home.
Quinn said the cost of labour will go up, with an impact on the final bill for projects.
It came as Balfour announced they had swung back into the black in the six months to end of June, going from a £15million loss to a £12million profit, triggering a six per cent jump in their share price. +15.0 +1.8 +80.5 +3.0 +0.8 0.0 +0.8 +0.8 +24.0 -22.0 +1.4 +1.0 0.0 -0.5 +9.0 +14.0 +0.9 -0.8 +8.2 +2.8 +1.1 Tesco Thomas Cook Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Trinity Mirror 180.1 125.7 4465.0 909.5 221.9 99.3 +2.9 +5.7 -6.5 -8.5 -0.0 -0.5