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The last time I can recall hearing anything about Blackpool was in 1971
In an upstairs room in Blackpool
By the side of a northern sea
The army had my father
And my mother was having me
Military Madness was killing my country
Solitary Sadness comes over me...
--"Military Madness" from "Songs for Beginners" by Graham Nash--
[for you non-Boomers that might be wondering who the hell is Graham Nash,
try Googling "CSNY"]
In an upstairs room in Blackpool
By the side of a northern sea
The army had my father
And my mother was having me
Military Madness was killing my country
Solitary Sadness comes over me...
--"Military Madness" from "Songs for Beginners" by Graham Nash--
[for you non-Boomers that might be wondering who the hell is Graham Nash,
try Googling "CSNY"]Vast reserves of shale gas revealed in UK
Huge natural gas field in north-west England revealed, but environmentalists alarmed at controversial fracking method
The huge scale of a natural gas field discovered under the north-west of England has been revealed, potentially revolutionising the UK's energy outlook and creating thousands of jobs, but environmental groups are alarmed at the controversial method by which the gas is extracted.
Preliminary wells drilled around Blackpool have uncovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas – equal to the kind of recoverable reserves of big energy exporting countries such as Venezuela, according to Cuadrilla Resources, a small energy company which has the former BP boss Lord Browne on its board. It said up to 800 more wells might be drilled in the region, creating 5,600 jobs and promising a repeat of the "shale gas revolution" that swept the US, sending local energy prices spinning downwards.
Even if only a relatively small fraction of gas could be exploited, it could trigger a rush of drilling in other parts of the UK at a time when Britain is running out of North Sea reserves.
But Cuadrilla's extravagant claims have alarmed environmentalists and unnerved supporters of wind power. Green groups are opposed to the hydraulic fracturing – "fracking" – process by which the gas is unlocked from shale rock, pointing out it remains banned in parts of the US and France over fears that water aquifers could be contaminated...
Huge natural gas field in north-west England revealed, but environmentalists alarmed at controversial fracking method
The huge scale of a natural gas field discovered under the north-west of England has been revealed, potentially revolutionising the UK's energy outlook and creating thousands of jobs, but environmental groups are alarmed at the controversial method by which the gas is extracted.
Preliminary wells drilled around Blackpool have uncovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas – equal to the kind of recoverable reserves of big energy exporting countries such as Venezuela, according to Cuadrilla Resources, a small energy company which has the former BP boss Lord Browne on its board. It said up to 800 more wells might be drilled in the region, creating 5,600 jobs and promising a repeat of the "shale gas revolution" that swept the US, sending local energy prices spinning downwards.
Even if only a relatively small fraction of gas could be exploited, it could trigger a rush of drilling in other parts of the UK at a time when Britain is running out of North Sea reserves.
But Cuadrilla's extravagant claims have alarmed environmentalists and unnerved supporters of wind power. Green groups are opposed to the hydraulic fracturing – "fracking" – process by which the gas is unlocked from shale rock, pointing out it remains banned in parts of the US and France over fears that water aquifers could be contaminated...
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