Controversial plans to begin fracking for shale gas in the UK could now face another major hurdle – after claims that the European Commission is planning to publish tough new rules to govern the industry.
Brussels, which faced major opposition from the UK for trying to interfere with the oil and gas safety regime last year, is reported to be drawing up a package of legislation for shale exploration.
It is understood that it would set down rules for dealing with the risks of venting and flaring of greenhouse gases, seismic disturbances, groundwater contamination and management of the water supply and reserves, impacts on air quality, and noise emissions.
It will almost certainly take the form of an unconventional fuels directive, similar to other EU laws covering wastewater and environmental impact assessments.
“We will be proposing a legal framework for shale gas in Europe to minimise its risks,” an EU source said. “Our intention is to provide clarity as to what the rules are for business, and investors, and to provide reassurance for the public in terms of the environmental impacts of shale gas and any impact it has on public health.
“And as the environmental impact of shale gas could be bigger than for conventional gas or oil, we intend to make sure that the environmental legislation is robust enough to cater for those risks.”
EU directives have a binding outcome, while allowing EU states leeway in reaching them.
The planned directive aims to ensure that the public is offered “the same level of protection” from the risks of shale fracking as from other forms of energy extraction.
Such common rules would give industry certainty, predictability, and a level playing field across the continent, the EU believes. However, it will inevitably grate with energy intensive industries and several member states.
Earlier this summer, the UK’s finance minister George Osborne announced what he hoped would be “the most generous for shale in the world”. Poland is also enthusiastic about shale’s potential but Bulgaria, France and northern Spain have all banned it, due to public concerns.
The EU’s Joint Research Centre says that shale gas drilling poses ‘high risks’ to the environment and human health, and the International Energy Agency says that even its greenest implementation would raise global temperatures by 3.5 degrees. But the industry counters that ‘green completion’ techniques involving the flaring or capture of methane emissions can greatly mitigate their effect.