[Closed] Fracking in Lancashire

I can't claim to be any kind of expert, and I understand that we need to meet the demand for energy, but this just strikes me as a bad idea...

It had to a lot of large companies are going to make a huge amount of money out of it and sod the people who live locally, there houses are going to be worthless, as subsidence /noise starts ,then theres the pollution aspect, and transportation problem,s etc.

Thing is the majority of us plebs never wanted it, and will never accept it.

Very sad news 🙁

A sad day.
Glad I am north of the border again (for the moment).

And the award for the most expected announcement of the day goes to........

Ridiculous decision, but inevitable, unfortunately.

It's ok, they'll be checking for earthquakes...

[img] [/img]

Much as I probably won't get any sympathy but the other day on another forum I got lambasted for buying "cheap Chinese steel".

No one ever said "don't buy cheap Saudi oil" or "Don't buy cheap American Ethane". In fact I can almost guarantee that most people have seen petrol at £1-£1.10 and done a little happy dance.

Pictures of two things that are regular at the moment (that's American gas being imported as it's cheaper and more plentiful than the North Sea).

[img] ?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=fc1a5629ef6175a0da75791acb4d43a5[/img]

And (I don't have a photo of me at the job centre but you get the idea)

[img] ?w=460[/img]

It was patently obvious from the off that there was no way that the [url= http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fracking-lord-howell-george-osbornes-3536842 ]concerns of some uppity northerners[/url] were going to get in the way of this governments mates making shitloads of cash.

They changed the law specifically so they could overrule Lancashire council. They don't give a flying * about us, up here. Especially if we're inconveniently in the way of their money-making plans.

I don't believe for a second that fracking will reduce our energy bills. Our energy market is too dysfunctional for that. It'll just allow the usual suspects to make even more money.

And theres no way on earth that any of the communities up here that are going to be effected by all of this are going to see any benefits whatsoever.

We've just been well and truly *ed over! Again!!

We've just been well and truly ****ed over! Again!!

Said the Brazilian tribe as they watch another tree felled to make paper for one of Binners prints.

I don't believe for a second that fracking will reduce our energy bills. Our energy market is too dysfunctional for that. It'll just allow the usual suspects to make even more money.

I refer the honourable gentlemen to my previous comment about the price of petrol being about 40% less than it was a few years ago.

RIP Lancashire.

Big business over local people once again.

This and Hinckley C pretty much sums up the Tories ideological hatred of renewable energy. Assuming Brexit is now inevitable there is going to be much more of this.

It won;t be that long before we reopen the coal mines and start building coal fired power plants. Fracking will seem like clean energy at that point.

It won;t be that long before we reopen the coal mines and start building coal fired power plants. Fracking will seem like clean energy at that point.

Straw-man / hyperbole.

[b]IF[/b] this was the result of oil hitting £200/bl again and energy was in short supply, then yes, coal might be an economic option if we were building the power stations to burn it in or the coke furnaces in S.Wales/Teesside were running.

But it's not and they're not. So there's neither the economic case or the demand for coal. And with the government refusing to give CCS the go ahead it's unlikely to change (although a few projects are still progressing with private funding).

Fracking is new technology that's actually relatively cheap.

So far in the Uk the case for fracking is more about cheaper raw materials for the domestic chemical industry rather than as a fuel for electricity generation. Grangemouth, Runcorn, Teesside etc. Will gobble the stuff up. Like opencast The jobs getting the stuff out of the ground will be negligible.

Amused that this is somehow being presented as a 'blight' on Blackpool - the Fylde Coast is hardly a national treasure

[img] [/img]

OK we now have a new form of fuel to extract from our land.
How about we sell it to a foreign country then buy it back for twice the price?
Previously I've called Tony Blair a weapons grade ****.
Mrs May ...step forward you are an evil, weapons grade ****. **** you you stupid ****ing **** and those stupid ****ing retards you call your ****ing government.

This government never cease to amaze

Fracking will be more tightly controlled here than in the US but I still wouldn't want to be living anywhere near it, the lorry traffic alone would be a nightmare.

They are indeed a pile of ****s, but with no credible opposition who will stop them?

I live in the last rural community inside the M60. Consultation starts next week about building 1200 houses on Green Belt.

but I still wouldn't want to be living anywhere near it, the lorry traffic alone would be a nightmare

One of the many objections of the local population, and their elected politicians who universally rejected the planning applications. But which have been just been loftily overruled from London

Same old, same old....

This is far from finished though. Local feeling was strong anyway. And that was before everyone had their apparently wrong democratic, and genuine concerns decision casually dismissed from our remote rulers in London

Theres going to be all manner of shit kicks off when they actually try to physically start drilling on those sights. Obviously Theresa is happy with how the large-scale protests and the inevitable confrontations/violence/arrests are going to look on the news

good hydrocarbon extraction:
[img] [/img]

Bad hydrocarbon extraction:
[img] [/img]

Oh * off ninfan, you clown!

That mining picture from the 70's is a total misrepresentation. As you well know!

Ii note that you, like the people who've just overruled local democracy, because we gave them the wrong answer, will be absolutely nowhere *ing near where any of this is taking place. Its like bloody colonialism!

Dick! 🙄

EDIT: So you've edited your image. The comment still stands that thats an old technology being phased out. So you're still a dick!

Fine... I'll give you a nicer picture of more recent coal mining (see edit above) happy now?

I may be a dick - but you're a hypocrite

km79 - Member
RIPieces Lancashire.

FIFY.

However, sorry but I think it's a good idea.

*must... stop... feeding... the... troll*

good hydrocarbon extraction:

[/pedant]

It's interesting looking at how planning applications for windfarms and those for fracking are dealt with; windfarms go through many hoops at different levels so they have a high change of being canned, fracking is handled centrally so it still goes ahead however many people object.

It's a good job there isn't some kind of global agreement that maybe we ought to actually do something about climate change, otherwise the government would be seen as totally hypocritical. Phew!

It's interesting looking at how planning applications for windfarms and those for fracking are dealt with; windfarms go through many hoops at different levels so they have a high change of being canned, fracking is handled centrally so it still goes ahead however many people object.

No, both get objected to by NIMBY on parish councils, then maybe/maybe not on district councils, then get overruled by Westminster and given a go ahead.

Or can you point me at a windfarm which was blocked by Wesminster?

I take it all the objectors don't have gas fired central heating? No hypocrites here. We need gas and the benefits outweigh the risks. Cheaper gas and security of supply. Bring it on.

Fine... I'll give you a nicer picture of more recent coal mining (see edit above) happy now?

Yes, because the choice is shale gas vs. coal.

I take it all the objectors don't have gas fired central heating? No hypocrites here. We need gas and the benefits outweigh the risks. Cheaper gas and security of supply. Bring it on.

Is Balcombe going to get it next?

Well its better than shipping it from Qatar or USA as we currently do. Also we already extract oil & gas from onshore sites like Wytch Farm, and Gatwick both of which are down south.

No, both get objected to by NIMBY on parish councils, then maybe/maybe not on district councils, then get overruled by Westminster and given a go ahead.

Have you ever actually been to Lancashire? Heres the view from my bedroom window....

[img] [/img]

We've got wind turbines all over the place. hundreds of 'em! And while there are a few (mostly grumpy old) objectors to them, most people are happy to have them here. I love looking over to them slowly turning on the other side of the valley.

Are you seriously suggesting that its just nimbyism to object to putting fracking wells in the middle of densely populated areas, given their track record in barely populated areas in the states, with regard to contaminating ground water, causing earth tremors etc? And that the environmental impact is just the same, and no riskier then some wind turbines?

Seriously?

Or can you point me at a windfarm which was blocked by Wesminster?

irc, there's no hypocrisy... I have gas heating, but our bill is so small we've had our bills messed up twice because the suppliers assumed the readings weren't right. With such cheap gas home efficiency measures don't really make financial sense, so there's very little incentive to reduce our energy usage. New houses could have very low heating requirements, but currently developers are not required or incentivised to build or update houses as such. This will all come back to bite us when we *have* to reduce our gas usage, either because of rising prices or the dawning realisation that we need to take climate change seriously.

The process of fracking I have no real issue with, as a geologist I view it as being relatively safe.

However, it's 2016. We absolutely, definitely should not be burning any more things to produce energy. Why the money for fracking can't be invested in renewable of nuclear is beyond me.

[b]Theresa May on Sunday:[/b]

the Government I lead will be driven not by the interests of a privileged few, but by the interests of ordinary, working-class families.

[b]Theresa May on Wednesday:[/b]

Our democracy should work for everyone, but if you’ve been trying to say things need to change for years and your complaints fall on deaf ears, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.

[b]Theresa May's Government on Thursday:[/b]

Screw you, ordinary working class families, trying to block the interests of the privileged few with your democracy. Your complaints fall on deaf ears.

Amazing stuff. 😆

However, it's 2016. We absolutely, definitely should not be burning any more things to produce energy. Why the money for fracking can't be invested in renewable of nuclear is beyond me.

We have fracking sites in the South Downs where I live.

So it's not just confined to the Northern Counties.

Have concerns, water table/large fractures/contamination. But it's nothing like the desolation caused by Coal Mines, and no one bothered moaning when they were in full swing, belching out stink across the UK. And I'm not trolling, Coal Mining made a lot of people both warm and comfortable, enabled them to earn a living on their doorstep and huge communities grew and prospered. The only difference I see with this is the NIMBY attitudes who fail to grasp the need for Gas. I guess you could turn it off for all those NIMBIYs who object to it, see how far consternation gets them..

Why the money for fracking can't be invested in renewable of nuclear is beyond me.

well bell pottinger have been lobbying the tories, for some time on behalf Cuadrilla to get this (and hinkley) moving

bikebouy - I don't really get the comparison with coal. Its not an either or decision.

I think the main problem with the wells in Lancashire is their positioning. They are proposing putting them in the middle of densely populated areas. The woman on the radio has just pointed out that the one approved has nearly 200,000 people living within a 5 mile radius.

And this is why the council refused the permission to drill. A couple of years ago they had to shut down the test drilling as it was causing earth tremors in the area.

But hey ho. Its only some northerners who'd probably vote labour anyway, and a labour council, so we'll just tell them the decision we've reached in Whitehall, and they can **** off with their local democracy

But it's nothing like the desolation caused by Coal Mines, and no one bothered moaning when they were in full swing, belching out stink across the UK. And I'm not trolling, Coal Mining made a lot of people both warm and comfortable, enabled them to earn a living on their doorstep and huge communities grew and prospered.

Yes, and it was brought to an end. A lot of people suffered severe physical ailments, as a result of coal mining and coal burning.

As said above, we should not be burning anything for fuel these days: The renewable technology is there now, and can only be improved upon, if the government lets it; but they choose to stand it it's way at every given opportunity.

There are small, developing countries who are going whole days/weeks/months on fully renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, the UK continues along the same old path it has done since the industrial revolution. This Country is nothing short of a disgrace, from this point-of-view.

Have concerns, water table/large fractures/contamination. But it's nothing like the desolation caused by Coal Mines, and no one bothered moaning when they were in full swing, belching out stink across the UK

Or can you point me at a windfarm which was blocked by Wesminster?

It's actually much less dangerous to everyone than coal mining, but as above, coal mining stopped for good reason. Why would we want to try a modern equivalent when a completely viable alternative is already available to us in the form of renewables?

It needs leaving in the ground, and that should be the end of it.

Sadly, there's a lot of money to be made here by politicians and their mates in charge of the fracking companies. Short term gains for a few apparently a better idea than focusing on what's going to help in the future. Nb - the next few years only isn't what I define as the future.

Not to mention the abandonment of local democracy. But I would expect nothing less from the current government. They have got their energy policy (amongst other things) badly, badly wrong.

On wind farms, they are centrally determined by Section 36 planning application if >50MW. Difficult really to compare the two. Commercial, industrial scale fracking hasn't even started yet. We've got all that to look forward to.