More on Shale Gas

In his latest Energy in Demand blog, Rod Janssen reposts a blog piece by Nick Butler in the FT.  In it, Butler argues that shale gas is here to stay and that the pragmatic thing to do is to recognise that reality and work with it to manage supply, demand, economics, environmental impacts and the like. He cites Exxon's decision to build a $10bn LNG export facility in Texas as a sign of big money demonstrating confidence in the industry.

I suggest that there's a lot of truth in what Butler is putting forward. The economics of energy supply will trump environmental concerns in the end - whether the latter are expressed as an ideological stance or a long-term economic one - and it is the potential get-out-of-jail-free (or at least cheaply) card for HMG and its bodged energy policy. Watch this space!