UK’s Labour would ban fracking for shale gas

Spokesman says need to tackle climate change makes emissions-free renewables a more viable energy option

The UK opposition Labour Party would ban hydraulic fracturing for shale gas if it wins the next general election, according to its energy spokesman Barry Gardiner.

Labour had previously supported only a moratorium on the process, known as fracking, until the industry met certain environmental safeguards. On Monday, Gardiner altered the policy, saying the need to tackle climate change makes emissions-free renewables a more viable energy option.

Fracking “locks us into an energy infrastructure that is based on fossil fuels long after our country needs to have moved to clean energy,” he said in a speech at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, northern England. The policy shift adds more uncertainty to an industry that’s struggled to get up and running despite tax breaks and the easing of planning restrictions since 2010. The UK estimated in 2013 it may have as much as 1,300 trillion cubic feet of gas locked in shale formations in northern England — enough to supply Britain’s needs for 47 years, based on a 10 per cent extraction rate.

Third Energy UK Gas Ltd was given the right to frack an existing UK natural gas well in May. That would be the first use of the practice since 2011, when Cuadrilla Resources Ltd unknowingly drilled into an area with a fault, sparking earth tremors and a moratorium. Former prime minister David Cameron tried to reinvigorate the industry with tax and planning measures, but it has yet to overcome a mix of technical difficulties and opposition from residents and environmentalists. His successor, Theresa May, another Conservative, has yet to spell out a policy on fracking. A decision on Cuadrilla’s application to drill and frack eight wells, seen as a bellwether for the industry, is due on October 6. Gardiner said his party will work to preserve energy industry jobs, even as it kills off the nascent fracking industry.