Britain will not turn to fracking as a possible answer to its energy crisis and will continue to focus on renewables and nuclear, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said today.
In a tweet, Kwarteng said that turning to the UK‘s shale gas reserves would do little to bring down the price in the long term and that an alternative to gas was the answer to the country’s energy needs.
Energy prices have soared by more than 400% over the past six months due to problems supply issues with the reliance of Europe on gas from Russia only like to add to the problems, experts predict.
Heating bills in the UK are set to rise by 54% to an average of £1,971 at the start of April when the new price cap comes into place to reflect those rises.
Supporters of fracking have slammed the government’s stance, saying that concerns about the possibility of earthquakes have been overstated and that tapping into the rocks under the UK to release gas trapped there would solve any supply issues for the country.
Kwarteng said most of the gas used in the UK currently comes from the North Sea through companies such as Shell or from Norway and the issue is not one of supply but of price.
“Additional UK production won’t materially affect the wholesale market price. This includes fracking – UK producers won’t sell shale gas to UK consumers below the market price. They’re not charities.
“The long-term solution is obvious: gas is more expensive than renewable energy, so we need to move away from gas.”
Oil and gas account for about 75% of the UK’s energy supply currently.