Harry's energy dispatch

Energy Desk 

Updates from the Energy Desk 

We have a special guest blog from Emeritus Professor David Smythe in which he asks why Cuadrilla has withdrawn from Balcombe. 

Jordan Naidan looks at the Underground Coal Gasification to see if it offers a low-carbon energy option. 

UK

In a move apparently design to reassure the general public, Environment Secretary Ed Davey has described fracking as 'not evil'. The comment follows a day of discussion on the BBC, including this radio programme on fracking.

 A BBC poll finds that UK government energy policy is not sufficiently green. The UK public remain staunchly anti-fracking, and 55% would be willing to pay more for their electricity to come from renewable sources.

Local residents of Aughton near Ormskirk in Lancashire have been shown plans for a large scale solar energy farm which would power 6000 homes. 

World 

A leaked UN report reveals that Greenland ice is melting faster than previously thought. Melt water in 10 years up to 2011 was found to be six times that of the previous decade while Antarctica melt had a five-fold increase in the same time period.

Chinese shale is proving hard to proving to exploit. Shell cite high population density and difficult terrain as reasons for slow progress in extracting the country's vast gas deposits.

A recent study has shown extreme heat is four times more likely to occur than in pre-industrial times, bringing with it the increased likelihood of large wild fires and drought.