Fracking

When I first heard the word "frack" the image of a vintage computer game arose. However, bad puns apart, the concept is more serious, as Peter Black's news release makes clear. There is a description of the process, which breaks up shale to release methane, in yesterday's Independent.

Peter draws attention to an application to frack in Maesteg, but Centrica are also considering extracting methane from the area of Cilfrew. (Application P2010/0382 refers) Centrica has published a Q&A as a pdf here, which should perhaps be read in conjunction with today's Indy. It is reported that New York state's Attorney-General has filed a lawsuit against the US federal government for failing to carry out an environmental risk assessment of fracking.