As the government lifts its ban on drilling for shale gas, the Guardian looks at where drilling could take place in the coming months and years. There are already 151 oil exploration and development licenses that will allow companies to pursue fracking. They range from Surrey and Sussex to Somerset, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Key protected areas in England either overlap or adjoin exploration licences. Almost half of the licenses granted are in Yorkshire, with some in parts of the North York Moors National Park, including Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond. Hathersage Moor in the Peak District. Photo: Chris Warham/Alamy In the Peak District, exploration permits have been granted adjacent to the national park. Other licenses overlap some of the most environmentally protected zones in Europe, formerly known as Natura 2000, which are designed to protect the most threatened species and habitats. These include fracking licenses that cover the Peak District Moors, a special area of environmental protection (SPA), and the South Pennine Moors, a special area of conservation (SAC). Some exploration licenses overlap parts of the South Downs National Park and shale gas drilling licenses cover Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including blocks that partially overlap the Lincolnshire Wolds and Quantock Hills, where oak woodlands are also Specially Protected Areas. Fracking permits also cover highly protected wetlands in England, known as Ramsar sites. Map Before the moratorium on fracking, which was introduced in 2019 after new research sparked new earthquake fears, protections from drilling in environmentally sensitive areas were opaque. There was no absolute ban on drilling in protected areas such as national parks or sites of special scientific interest. The rules allowed fracking 1,200 meters below national parks and SSSIs as long as drilling took place outside their boundaries. This was despite an earlier promise to completely ban the controversial shale gas extraction technique in such areas. Tom Fyans, director of campaigns and policy at county charity CPRE, said: “Putting the crown jewels of the English landscape at risk of collateral damage from fracking adds insult to injury. It is particularly desirable in light of the Government’s previous commitment to improving our natural environment and encouraging more of us to visit the countryside.” The Lincolnshire Wolds. Photo: incamerastock/Alamy Environmental concerns about fracking include earthquake risk, increased air pollution and potential groundwater contamination. Friends of the Earth said there were climate change implications from the release of carbon dioxide when shale gas is burned and methane, a gas 25 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Over six days in January 2019 at the Preston New Road fracking site in Lancashire, researchers at the University of Manchester found that 4.2 tonnes of methane was released, the equivalent of 142 transatlantic flights. All 151 licenses granted to a range of companies could be used for fracking exploration, but currently 47 are specifically for the purpose of drilling for shale gas, according to figures from the North Sea Transitional Authority. Devils Dyke, near Brighton, in the South Downs National Park. Photo: Peter Cripps/Alamy Ineos Group and Cuadrilla Resources Ltd are two of the biggest players in the shale gas industry and are likely to move faster. Until the moratorium, Cuadrilla drilled two wells in Preston New Road, but was forced to shut down operations after a series of earthquakes. On Thursday, the founder of fracking company Cuadrilla, which drilled the UK’s first modern wells, told the Guardian that fracking in the UK would be impossible on a meaningful scale and that the government’s support for it was just “a political gesture”. . Ineos’ fracking licenses include blocks covering parts of the North York Moors. South Western Energy Ltd owns licensed areas encroaching on the Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills in Somerset, both Designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rachael Bice, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said fracking’s far-reaching environmental impact and negative impact on action to tackle climate change meant it should not be revived. “As well as habitat loss, fragmentation and disturbance, fracking will require large amounts of water – a resource Yorkshire cannot spare or risk being polluted, especially as we start to see increased chances of drought due to a changing climate,” he said. Liz Truss, the Prime Minister, has indicated that fracking will only go ahead with local support. But the fighters are preparing for a fight. Frack Off said the UK’s 10 million licensed acres could now see the most significant fracking attack to date. “Full-scale fracking in these areas would mean drilling many thousands of wells, at densities of eight wells per square mile or more, as well as other fracking infrastructure such as pipelines, compressor stations, processing plants and waste disposal facilities that criss-cross the countryside. said the team. Fracking companies are lobbying for the drilling to be designated as a National Strategic Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which would override local planning authorities. They are also pushing for weaker earthquake regulations. Current rules say fracking must be suspended for 18 hours if a tremor greater than 0.5 is detected. Shackleton Moor in West Yorkshire. Photo: Andrew Smith/Alamy But Fyans warned the government not to overrule local democracy. “Fracking has no social license to operate anywhere, regardless of landscape or biodiversity value, and will not receive community consent,” he said. “Therefore there is a real fear that planning rules will be watered down to enable the government to impose an environmentally destructive policy against the wishes of rural communities.” Charles McAllister, director of policy at industry body UK Onshore Oil and Gas, dismissed environmental concerns about fracking. “The environmental arguments don’t apply… The industry is ready to get back to work creating a reliable domestic supply of much-needed natural gas.” Ineos said the government should tackle fracking as a national infrastructure priority. “We look forward to working constructively with the government on timely production of shale gas in the national interest, as well as working closely with local communities to ensure they share in the benefits of domestic shale gas development.” Cuadrilla declined to comment while South Western Energy Ltd was unavailable.
