Like the United States, the United Kingdom enjoyed energy independence into the 21st century until a few years ago when fossil fuels where shunned to become an energy net importer again!
Human folly knows no bounds!
Will the British people have the courage to restart their shale and fracking revolution for energy independence?
"Between 1980 and 2005, the UK produced more energy than it needed. Today, we import more than a third of our energy and over half of our natural gas. ...
A decade ago, the US shale gas revolution was well underway, with fracking creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and driving down gas prices. Household energy spending in America has fallen by around 15 per cent during the last ten years, even while helping drive a 20 per cent reduction in energy-related emissions over the past two decades.
And it appeared the UK was on the cusp of a similar transformation. In 2013, 58 per cent of the public supported fracking ... At the same time, the British Geological Survey was estimating that the Bowland, a thick seam of shale across Lancashire and Yorkshire, could alone yield up to 13,000 billion cubic metres of natural gas. If just 10 per cent of this had been extracted from the ground, it could have heated homes for half a century.
... in 2013 we were at the zenith ... of our own fracking revolution. Had we developed our reserves of shale oil and gas, it’s possible we would not only be self-sufficient in energy but exporting it to the rest of Europe. Had we not killed our shale industry at birth, the British public would not only be funding more of our own priorities (including low carbon investment), we wouldn't be fuelling the Russian war machine. ...
There is now an anti-fracking consensus in Britain and the last operational site closed in 2019. It was announced last month that Cuadrilla would be permanently abandoning its shale gas wells in Lancashire. A mix of net zero ideologues, naive Nimby’s and renewable energy promoters — often gullibly latching on to Putin’s anti-fracking propaganda — worked tirelessly to stop renewed gas extraction in its tracks. Proponents of the ‘leave it in the ground’ mentality organised protests, stoked public hostility, and made it near-impossible for politicians to reconcile fears with reality. ..."
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