Academies urge politicians to address fracking concerns

Fracking safety issues are not an “insurmountable obstacle” to innovation and technology advances, national academies have said.

The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council published a statement analysing the main issues of fracking on 13 November. High population density, methane leakage and local public acceptance need to be reviewed carefully by European policymakers before economic gains can be made on shale gas reserves, they said.

The scale of fracking potential in Europe remains uncertain because of limited data availability and local opposition to drilling attempts in multiple member states. Easac said the uncertainty over the economic viability of fracking in the EU cannot change without exploratory drilling. In January, the European Commission adopted non-binding recommendations on how member states should explore fracking.