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The BBC is reporting today that Lord (Chris) Smith, chair of theEnvironment Agency, has come out in favour of fracking – the controversial method for extracting gas from shale. Inreality his words are not a clearcut endorsement for the practice. The Beeb points out that Smith said on the Today programme that heonly backed fracking if it was accompanied by successful carboncapture & storage, which so far only exists in pilot form. In fact his concerns are wider. In his speech tonight at the RSA hewill say that fracking " potentially ticks the box on energy security, on availability andon cost ". But he adds: " Does it tick the box on environment? The answer is complex, and issomething like ‘up to a point' ." If Britain locks itself into a new generation of gas," with all the carbon consequences ", it would be unable to reduce the carbon impact of itspower generation to zero, he will say. Lord Smith will also add that fracking needs careful use ofdrilling technology and rigorous monitoring and inspection. Nodoubt he is aware of the controversy surrounding the chemicalswhich are used in the process of extraction – skilfullydescribed in this e xcellent feature by our environment correspondent, Pilita Clark . The peer will use his speech to make a broader warning that green issues are sliding down the political agenda despite being among the mostimportant challenges facing the UK. In a rare intervention by the former Labour culture secretary, thepeer will use his first big speech for three years to call for thegovernment to acknowledge and respect that environmental policy is essential and not an optionalextra. The comments come as the coalition is shedding several greencommitments in order to focus on economic growth. We can tabandon either green or growth, he will say in tonight'sspeech. Lord Smith told me he backed the coalition s attempts tostreamline regulation to make it less bureaucratic. The governmenthas carried out a red tape challenge to strip away unnecessary burdens on companies. But he challenged the focus on cutting legislation, saying therewas a reason why many regulations existed. Because things like putting toxins into our water or into the air simply aren t acceptable we need to keep theseprotections , he said. In his speech, Lord Smith will cite the example of Britain sfailure to be a market leader in wind turbine production, despitehaving done pioneering work in the sector 20 years ago. Let s not make the same mistake with the development of wave andtidal power , he will say. Britain is leading the technology in wave power, with seven out ofthe eight full-scale prototypes anywhere in the world. Lord Smith,who is a crossbench peer despite his Labour background willsay that the global market for wave power could be huge but we need to get our skates on . George Osborne, the chancellor, has been conspicuous for his switchaway from green rhetoric, insisting that environmental measuresshould not come at the expense of the economy. He has offeredfinancial assistance for energy-intensive industries affected bythe imminent carbon floor price and has promised an opt-out clause for carbon reduction targets. Lord Smith told the FT that it was inevitable that during arecession the green agenda would sometimes overtaken by morebread-and-butter issues. But he cited the strong performance by theGreen candidates in last week s local elections as proof thepublic had not turned their backs on environmental issues. The peer will admit he has warmed to the idea of nuclear power because it produces close to zero greenhouse gas emissions. If you had asked me 20 years ago about nuclear power, I wouldhave take the traditional green view and said something like overmy dead body , he will say. To achieve decarbonisation of ourpower, nuclear has to be part of the answer. I am an expert from magnesiumferrosilicon.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Calcium Silicon Barium Manufacturer , China Metal Inoculation, Ferrosilicon Alloys,and more.
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