The UK is in its worst energy crisis since possibly the 16thcentury when a shortage of firewood and hence the ability to cook food drove the nation to the brink of starvation. Starvation was averted in many quarters by breaking the taboo of descending into the bowels of the Earth to dig for coal. And so began the industrial revolution and Britain’s rise to global domination on the back of coal dug from the ground in Lowland Scotland, South Wales and mines in England – from Northumberland and Durham in the north to Somerset in the west and even Kent in the south.

The decline of coal began in Britain just after the First World War but it was not until the late 1960 and early 1970s that again we faced an energy crisis. Fate was on our side again with the discovery of North Sea gas and then oil. By the time Margaret Thatcher entered No 10 we were a net exporter of both oil and gas – a petro-economy and remained so until 2004 when we flipped to energy imports as our production dwindled.

Here in 2022, in another energy crisis caused in large part by the control of a substantial proportion of gas supply in Europe, some folk think we can again turn to the rocks of the UK to deliver us a bonanza of home-produced shale gas by fracking. After all we hardly gave it a decent chance 10 years ago before a ban was introduced.

The UK first used this method to extract oil and gas from the North Sea in the late 70s but it wasn’t until 2008 that licences for onshore exploration were granted. The perceived risks of fracking (some are real and others not so) galvanised action and would be frackers were thwarted at almost every turn. Earthquakes in Lancashire directly related to the drilling and stimulation of the first onshore well in England added to the alarm. A ban, eventually, was put in place in 2019.

So is this brand new government right to overturn the ban? Could shale gas fracking onshore in the UK help “dig” us out of the energy crisis? The short answer is no. We would need thousands of wells available immediately – it would take years to assemble the vast quantity of drilling and other equipment required. Moreover, we have the wrong kind of geology – our shales are typically clay rich and will not hold a fracture like the crispy siliceous ones commonly found in the USA. Our geology is “too small” – we just don’t have the vast areas of accessible acreage with uniform geology enabling a factory like approach to drilling and completions. Then of course there will be planning regulations to be overcome and society to mollify.

We do need more oil and gas and the North Sea is not fully exploited – significant amounts of both are still available. The PM may have announced on Thursday that new licences will be available for this, but it will take years before we see the benefits. Both oil and gas can be extracted with up to date technology at near zero-net carbon by supporting production with the injection of greenhouse gas CO2 – yes we can monetise what to the rest of the world is a waste product.

In short there are many easier ways to get our required energy than fracking: use less by improving building standards and retrofits, extract not petroleum but zero-carbon heat from the ground. The geothermal potential of the UK to supply itself with zero-carbon heat and half the nation’s total energy bill is vast – it is estimated to be at least 100 years supply.

Offshore wind too has already demonstrated it can deliver sustainable low cost power. The opportunity for growth there is obvious as it is for onshore wind – quick to install and deliver a return.

We can improve our energy security, sustainability and affordability with existing technology and knowhow and a coherent long-term energy policy would help that happen.

Professor Jon Gluyas is Director of Durham Energy Institute at Durham University. He spent 28 years in the petroleum industry

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