UK Shale Gas

I do not think that it is nonsense. The Environmental Audit Committee, of which I am a member, is...

I heard that number with interest: six times as much for fossil fuels as for renewables. Can the ...

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Environmental Audit Committee evidence, which goes through that...

Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?

I have answered that point.

Ministers have given us an industry-led community benefit schem...

We all want evidence-based decision making, and it seems odd to say first that there is no eviden...

I would certain welcome that if it were reflected in the sort of statements that we hear from the...

The hon. Lady makes the point that the cost of extracting the gas will be higher than the cost of...

I think it will be made commercially viable through the sort of tax breaks that the Government ar...

I should like to tell right hon. and hon. Members that I will call the first Front Bencher no lat...

For Members who cannot do the arithmetic, can you tell us how long we have to speak, Mr Bone?

No, you are quite capable of doing that, Mr Lilley.

2.2 pm

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bone, and to have your understanding that I...

My hon. Friend is making a number of strong points on behalf of his community in Lancashire, and ...

On balance, my hon. Friend makes a fair point. It has been put to me that, if the area were the f...

I know that my hon. Friend is looking at the issue carefully, as well he should. Does he agree th...

My hon. Friend makes an extremely valid point, but he must understand that we then get the argume...

The hon. Gentleman is probably already aware of the Sullom Voe agreement, under which community b...

It is an interesting model, but there are serious problems with the definition of what the counci...

The hon. Gentleman may find it helpful to consider—certainly looking at US experience—that a frac...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his technical expertise; that is also my understanding. I remind h...

It is a pleasure to speak in this Backbench Business Committee debate with you in the Chair, Mr B...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Will my hon. Friend wait until I complete this point? I will come to him in a moment. His constit...

Outside London and the south-east, the highest house prices in the country are in Aberdeen, due t...

My hon. Friend is entitled to that view, but I do not agree with him.

There are serious con...

There have been some 2 million wells fracked in the United States and not a single person has suf...

That is interesting, and if the right hon. Gentleman has references that he wants to pass on for ...

The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the report, but it was, as she said, about geological was...

Those are interesting points, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that if he was at meetings with...

The hon. Lady is being very generous in giving way. I might have misheard her, but I think she sa...

I do not think that that is my job—

Of course it is.

Show some leadership.

Order.

I do not know about the particular developer we will have or the particular process that it will ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I want to make some progress.

I want to touch further on the potential environmental im...

rose—

Order. Because of the number of Members who have indicated that they wish to speak, with the auth...

It is a pleasure to be at this debate under your chairmanship, Mr Bone, and I am delighted that y...

I think I said that the driver for increasing fuel bills for most people today is rising prices o...

The current cost of electricity produced from gas or coal is £50 per megawatt-hour. The current c...

Far from my being in la-la land, the right hon. Gentleman has very effectively not answered my qu...

Even that is not true. The most recent generation of gas turbines are so much more efficient than...

indicated dissent.

The hon. Gentleman can intervene if he wishes to put me right.

The right hon. Gentleman will lose time from me intervening, so I am sorry about that.

If the hon. Gentleman can be quick.

Thickness is not necessarily the final indicator.

If the hon. Gentleman does not have anything interesting to say, then he should not waste my time...

Well, it relates to geological faulting, clay, extractability, tightness—

Thank you very much. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. That was not very helpful to the debate...

The debate here falls into two categories: a wider category and a narrower category. It is undoub...

Whatever number of wells my hon. Friend thinks each constituency would have to bear, does he thin...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, in the US shale gas drilling takes place right in the...

I am not sure if the hon. Gentleman has seen the report by the Institute of Directors that was pu...

Well, those are entirely different points. At a particular point we could meet a larger amount of...

I am trying to understand the point that the hon. Gentleman has just made. Is his point that beca...

If every country in Europe produced the same amount of shale gas that is presently being produced...

rose—

I am sorry, but I cannot give way any more or I would lose the rest of my time.

The other q...

What’s stopping them?

The right hon. Member may well have asked a very valid question. As I was saying, such a plant pr...

I can confirm that I have no financial interests outside of this place whatsoever. I sit on the E...

Will the hon. Gentleman accept that not only would that gas be expensive because it is being impo...

Although I said that we would be using broadly the same amount of gas, the hon. Gentleman is righ...

Does the hon. Gentleman concur—I think that he already is concurring—that the notion of that supp...

I agree. I do not think that the hon. Gentleman could accuse me of saying that lower prices is th...

The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. This issue is developing in my constituency, and the comp...

I agree. If companies are implying that there will be almost no impact whatever, they should look...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the use of water would not be on a regular basis over 10 year...

The hon. Gentleman is right. It peaks and then trails off, but in that entire 10-year period, inc...

Members will be pleased that the air conditioning has now been fixed. They will now feel better.<...

I had not noticed that the air conditioning had changed.

I congratulate the hon. Member for...

It is important to tell my hon. Friend that I already have evidence that, because of these develo...

That is completely consistent with what I was saying—that the fear of the activity, rather than t...

I agree with the point the hon. Gentleman has just made about renewables and potential increases ...

It would not be if it was just a hedge and it was not artificially pushing the cost of gas and ot...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on obtaining the debate an...

They are subsidised.

I apologise; it is probably my fault. Just to be clear, the price of solar is something upwards o...

One of the points that has not been made is that there is a slight assumption that shale gas is j...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. He is completely right. Indeed, it would be more accur...

Lignite.

They will burn, as my hon. Friend says, a dirty coal. It is extraordinary that that is happening ...

Germany is on course to meet its emissions reduction target far more effectively than we are. The...

The hon. Lady makes an important point, if it were true, but the fact is that Germany has 25% hig...

As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Amess. I want to focus on the ar...

Does the hon. Lady ever feel that she has a duty to her constituents not merely to pander to ever...

Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman should speak to his Conservative colleagues who control Bath and...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent representation of her constituents’ concerns, and she is th...

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The patronising responses from some Government Members, wit...

Thank you for your generosity in allowing me to contribute to this debate, Mr Amess. I apologise ...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing the debate.