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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the proportion of UK energy which may be supplied through extraction of shale gas over the next 20 years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the proportion of UK energy which may be supplied through extraction of shale gas over the next 20 years.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not carried out an assessment of the proportion of UK energy which shale gas might supply over the next 20 years. The Department has, however, published an Environmental Report which is currently out for consultation as part of the process of strategic environmental assessment for further onshore licensing. The report is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/environmental-report-for-further-onshore-oil-and-gas-licensing
On the assumptions of its high scenario, this report estimates that production on new licences over 20 years could be some 4 to 8 trillion cubic feet. In addition, the British Geological Society (BGS) published an estimate of the gas in place in the Bowland-Hodder shale that underlies northern England, last year. It estimated that the most probable value of gas in place as 1,300 trillion cubic feet. The BGS is currently conducting a study of the Kimmeridge Clay of the Weald Basin in Surrey and Sussex, and the Oil-Shale Group of the Midland Valley in Scotland.
The Department's energy projections suggests that over the next two decades, overall primary energy demand in the UK is expected to remain roughly stable with gas accounting for over a third of such demand. Until further exploration and testing can be done to determine the extent of shale gas that can be technically and commercially recovered, however, it is impossible to estimate the proportion it might supply in the UK's future energy mix.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that, far from being a bribe, the decision to allow councils to keep 100% of business rates is about ensuring that local communities and local people can benefit and get a fair share of the development in their area?
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that, far from being a bribe, the decision to allow councils to keep 100% of business rates is about ensuring that local communities and local people can benefit and get a fair share of the development in their area?
Yes, it is important that the benefits of shale gas exploration should not just go to the economy more widely, or to the companies doing the exploration or, indeed, wholly to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is important that local people and local communities share in those benefits as well.
What steps he is taking to promote the exploration of UK shale gas resources.
What steps he is taking to promote the exploration of UK shale gas resources.
The Government have taken a number of recent steps to promote shale gas exploration. We confirmed fiscal measures in the autumn statement to incentivise exploration activity, we published a regulatory road map in December setting out clearly for operators the regulatory requirements for shale gas projects, and the Prime Minister announced 100% business rate retention for local authorities for shale projects on Monday. We are also consulting on the strategic environment assessment for a potential 14th onshore licensing round, which would enable further areas of the country to be explored.