"I came across this video on You Tube the other day and was sufficiently concerned to think that it might be of interest to the collective. If Shale gas is the energy of the future then this sort of problem is going to have to be dealt with properly, unless it is just a local incident, or people are not going to stand for it."

David Fuller's view Thanks and good point. Although the video is 18 months old, the initial, non political points are still relevant today. I see this subject as primarily a regulatory matter. The extraction of any fossil fuel is a nasty, dirty and dangerous process. The tradeoff is that we need technology, common sense and personal responsibility to extract these important fuels reasonably safely, and sensible regulation to ensure that precautions are taken to reduce environmental damage. Unfortunately, this will never satisfy everyone. The IEA report above also addresses these issues.

At the risk of belabouring another point, if we want an efficient, reliable and relatively safe alternative to fossil fuels, how about reviving the nuclear renaissance?