Pictured above: RSPB Scotland's Skinflats reserve, near areas where unconventional gas applications have previously been considered.
It has been a busy week for energy policy and new developments in Scotland (and the UK), with reports and a consultation on fracking in Scotland, and a new funding round for renewable energy projects across the UK. The RSPB takes a keen interest in how our energy is produced because we know that climate change is one of the biggest long term threats to birds and wildlife; we also know from our 2050 Energy Vision research that a low-carbon energy system can be delivered in a way that avoids harming wildlife – as long as governments are willing to take steps to make this happen. Key amongst these is to protect our finer wildlife areas from inappropriate development.
Yesterday, the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, announced the publication of a number of studies into the potential impacts of unconventional oil and gas extraction (both fracking for shale gas, and exploiting coal bed methane) in Scotland. We are pleased to see that there will be a public consultation on these Scottish Government commissioned independent research reports in early 2017. This will come before a decision is made by Scottish Ministers on whether to allow unconventional gas extraction to go ahead, or to move for a ban. The RSPB believes that it is important to make decisions on the basis of research and evidence, so we are also pleased that the Minister invited stakeholders to submit their own research findings to the consultation.
The reports consider the impacts of these technologies on our climate change targets, health, transport, the economy, and seismic activity; and explore the issues around decommissioning and aftercare of sites. Disappointingly, the reports don’t appear to have considered the environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas, other than in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Our research has shown these operations can lead to loss of habitats over large areas, significant disturbance to wildlife, and contamination of ground- and surface-water.
In our 2014 “Are we fit to frack?” report we, and a number of partner organisations, set out our position. We believe commercial shale gas extraction should only go ahead in the UK if it can be objectively demonstrated that the regulatory framework for the industry is fit for purpose, and offers sufficient protection to the natural and historic environment. We called for a world-class regulatory regime, paid for by the shale gas industry, and for taxpayers to be protected from bearing the costs of accidental pollution, or restoring areas used by the industry.
The overwhelming message from the reports is that there needs to be tighter regulation of the industry if the moratorium on unconventional oil and gas is to be lifted. The reports also highlight a lack of evidence, making it impossible to fully assess the impacts of the industry – particularly on our health – which would suggest that a precautionary approach is appropriate.
We now need to study the reports in detail, and see how they compare with our own research. RSPB Scotland will respond to the consultation when it is published next year, and we will emphasise that our priority is a transition to a low carbon energy sector developed in harmony with nature. This is the sustainable way to tackle climate change and protect birds and wildlife.
For more on the RSPB's 2050 Energy Vision, click here.