UK fracking wells must be left for dead!

REPLYING to Norah Western’s letter on March 11th. Norah is spot on about a referendum on energy policy. It’s the daftest idea this year.

But she is not correct that green taxes have forced up energy costs. The price of gas went up. That’s all that happened. Nothing to do with anything green. She is also incorrect about promises of green energy being blown over. The renewables industry is doing pretty well considering how little is invested in it compared with how much is spent on new fossil fuel projects.

The case for fracking is ridiculous. It would take 10 years for fracking wells to produce anything of any volume. Renewables are a far better investment bringing much quicker energy returns. UK fracked gas will not bring prices down in the UK. It will be sold to the highest bidder on the international market, and it is extremely questionable whether such gas can be extracted safely. Track record in Lancashire and Yorkshire says very definitely not.

Fracking is a ridiculous distraction. The fastest way to energy security is to cut demand, then switch funding from high carbon to low carbon. This has been well-researched and is very possible without cuts to living standards. The amount of energy that is simply wasted on stuff we don’t need, and journeys we don’t need to go on, is phenomenal. Also, insulating housing stock so we waste less energy on heating – why so little action on this when it is such a no-brainer?! Let’s stop treating people like Farage, as if they know what they are talking about when it is clear they don’t have a clue.

Dilys Morgan Scott

Torquay, Devon