The analysis in that Economist opinion piece is rather poor, and reads more like an industry booster piece than a review of current knowledge about the process

The analysis in that Economist opinion piece is rather poor, and reads more like an industry booster piece than a review of current knowledge about the process and impacts of fracking. A study was released late last year by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) [1] which found that a switch to natural gas would increase warming over the next few decades, as outlined in NCAR's report [2]. It acknowledges something the shale gas industry studiously avoids in calculating figures for its green credentials pitches: fugitive emissions. A significant amount of methane leakage occurs in the fracking process and piping of gases. When you add in the input-intensive activity of multiple well constructions, fracking, pipeline construction, and fugitive emissions the 'green' story of shale gas doesn't add up. The dismissal of fracking-triggered earthquakes is also odd, considering a US company (Cuadrilla) was forced to stop fracking in the UK after two seismic events occurred [3], a recent report by the UK was focused on mitigating fracking-related seismic events [4], and Cuadrilla released a report [5] which concluded "it is highly probable" hydraulic fracking triggered a number of tremors. When you factor in the unavoidable well contamination of underground aquifers (as pressure differences inevitably lead to aquifer water filling the fracked area over time) the shale gas 'bonanza' seems anything but. [1] http://www.springerlink.com/content/b430681263425q64/?MUD=MP http://www.springerlink.com/content/b430681263425q64/?MUD=MP [2] https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/5292/switching-coal-natural-gas-would-do-little-global-climate-study-indicates https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/5292/switching-coal-nat... [3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/01/blackpool-earthquake-tremors-gas-drilling http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/01/blackpool-earthquak... [4] http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_047/pn12_047.aspx http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_047/pn12_047... [5] http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Geomechanical-Study-of-Bowland-Shale-Seismicity_02-11-11.pdf http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02...