Contested perspectives on fracking in the UK

The recent identification of potentially extensive\ud shale-gas resources within the UK has generated a\ud mixed response. On the one hand there are those\ud who claim that the commercial development of\ud these resources could play an important role in the\ud UK’s future energy mix, reduce dependency on\ud foreign sources of energy and stimulate investment\ud in new jobs and businesses. On the other hand a\ud number of community groups have been\ud campaigning to oppose future shale-gas\ud development by hydraulic fracturing (popularly\ud known as ‘fracking’) because of a range of\ud environmental concerns. With this in mind, this\ud article provides a brief description of the character -\ud istics of shale gas and fracking, outlines the\ud geography of potential resources within the UK,\ud and reviews the contested benefits and risks\ud associated with the possible exploitation of these\ud resources