European Union lawmakers voted narrowly on Wednesday to force energy
companies to carry out in-depth environmental audits before they deploy
a technique known as fracking to recover natural gas from shale rock.
Read more: Europe Votes to Tighten Rules on Drilling Method - NYTimes.com
The
technique involves shooting a cocktail of water, sand and chemicals
under pressure into shale to break it up and release the gas. France has
already banned the technique, also known as hydraulic fracturing. And
it has produced protests in Britain.
The
rules were narrowly approved by the European Parliament, which is
meeting this week in Strasbourg, France, and still must undergo another
round of voting in the Parliament once an agreement on final language
is reached with European Union governments. Shale gas projects that do
not use fracking would not be covered by the rules, which update
environmental legislation in Europe.
Even
so, the result is a setback for the shale-gas industry in Europe,
where it is far less developed than in the United States and where many
citizens are more concerned about the environmental impact of
recovering the gas than about finding new sources of hydrocarbons as a
way of combating stubbornly high energy prices.
Recently the Dutch Government postponed their plans to explore Gas reserves in the Province of Flevoland by means of fracking in order to carry out more studies as to the safety of such exploration.
Recently the Dutch Government postponed their plans to explore Gas reserves in the Province of Flevoland by means of fracking in order to carry out more studies as to the safety of such exploration.
Read more: Europe Votes to Tighten Rules on Drilling Method - NYTimes.com