Huge shale gas find near Blackpool

[An Inspector Calls]

Cuadrilla have announced a large shale gas find close to Blackpool.

http://www.ifandp.com/article/0013914.html

A nice confusion of units - cubic feet and cubic metres, but 200*10^12 cubic feet burnt at the UK gas consumprion rate of 100*10^9 cubic metres/annum means this find would last us about 60 years.

Throw in predictions of vast reserves beneath the NE coal fields and under the North Sea and the picture begins to look rosey.

However, Chris Huhne, ever the Kiljoy, has warned that converting to gas would not enable us to achieve our CO2 emissions targets - which seems strange given the low efficiency of our ageing coal fleet, the higher carbon content of coal, and demonstrations in the US that wind displacing gas leads to little or no CO2 emission reductions through provisions for reserve and response.

However, I'd take the Cuadrilla announcement with a huge dose of salt. It's thin on detail, and it might simply be an optimistic carrot to gain them approval for further test bores.

But if true, this find could underpin a century of low energy costs in the UK.

[RenewableCandy]

Now that I am no longer bound-to get my head bitten off for throwing a question mark into this kind of announcement, I am going to, erm, well you get the idea (god she's so predictable).

Firstly, I remember a follow-up announcement to this in which the 200 had been reduced to 80, giving us 25 years and not the original 60.

Second, we do not have our own Mr Chavez or even Mr Putin, so I jalouse this gas will find its way onto the world market and not be bagged specially for us Brits. So we shall either be warm or rich, but not both.

Finally, the world market includes people like the Chinese, who are still doing (and in need of) "growth". My guess is that this will take that 25 down by at least a factor of 5.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this? Or indeed on Cua-drilla's record of finding things that aren't there?

[biffvernon]

Yes, gas is becoming an increasingly internationally traded commodity as more pipelines and LNG terminals are built. Tight gas in Bolton will probably be dearer than loose gas in Arctic Russia so it will come down to other considerations such as balance of payments.

Either way, it all adds carbon to the atmosphere.