Unconventional Gas
The Opportunities & Challenges group decided to host a workshop to explore the opportunities and challenges arising from the development of unconventional hydrocarbons, both in Scotland and elsewhere in the world. This event was co-hosted by the Scottish Government and the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation.
The debate was framed within the context of Scottish climate change policy, which requires decarbonisation of the energy sector – and the economy more broadly – in line with the trajectory established by legislation. Elsewhere in the world, developers have already brought unconventional gas into commercial production at a scale which has had a fundamental effect on the price of other fossil fuels and is now considered to be having a secondary impact on coal prices in Europe. This indicated that whether or not these fuels are developed at scale in the UK itself, the impact here of exploitation elsewhere will be significant. The observed effect on CO2 emissions in the US and longer term impacts on different types of investment here (including renewable energy investment) were explored. Links to resources and research on these topics will be added here shortly.
