You will, no doubt, have seen many media reports around fracking and wondered what the fuss is all about. Fracking (or hydraulic fracturing) is the mechanism by which sand, water and chemicals are pumped into the ground in order to fracture rocks and thereby release the shale gas contained within.

So far so good… but why go to all that trouble?  Well, we live in an economic climate of rising fuel prices, and some people feel that this resulting shale gas could be the answer to the UK’s energy needs.  A recent report indicated over half of the UK could be viable for fracking – 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the north of England alone.  Put simply, shale gas could be the new North Sea Gas, for the 21st Century. (more…)