Mining/Fracking - old and new

Could be straying into the minefield (no pun at all!) of politics Val.... 

Get the gas out  - at least that should ensure lower prices in the UK (we do import liquified gas) and should also help to keep the price of leccy and driving down.Apparently oil and gas prices (according to one report I recently read) are closely linked.

Gas is cleaner than coal (relatively speaking).

Gas is much easier and cheaper to transport and use (very little infrastructure required).

Once the well is fractured, the gas comes out with minimal further intervention - every block of coal must be manually extracted.

Apples and oranges I'm afraid!

Val when George Osbornes father in law as a big investment in fracking companies, what do you expect. If they had kept coal,ones open there is a gas called methane that was pumped out of the pits and burnt into the atomosphere. There is over 32 million tons. Of coal being imported that is equivalent to 32 pits working getting it out. Short term planning I'm afraid.

If it will eventually bring cheaper fuel then go for it i say.

peter.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of fracking and closing collieries, how on earth it's cheaper and more environmentally friendly to buy and transport coal all the way from Columbia, rather than from 7 miles down the road is, I'm afraid, beyond the grasp of my simple mind!

Unfortunately for the Columbians and others it's probably cheap labour that produces cheap coal, we can maybe conserve our stocks in the meantime?

It's cheap labour, huge scale of extraction, no delays or high cost of planning applications, and relatively cheap transport costs because of glut of oil.

Bru they have just closed the last deep coal mine and it would cost far to much to start opening them again. Short term planning comes to mind. Although britain sits on millions of tons of coal. Anyone who thinks fracking is good should really see all the bad publicity about it, including water from the tap being flammable.

I was just talking about coal Mollie, I know it's sad to see a mine closing but at least we will have future stocks.  A family member has been involved in coal drilling, so I'm pleased we have stocks. The jury's out on fracking, I don't know enough about it to comment, except that it has brought oil prices down.