Shale we or shan't we?

As exploration of shale gas reserves resumes in Lancashire in the UK, a leading energy industry observer says EU legislation fails to support an important nascent industry. Dr Pierre Noël, Senior Research Associate and Director of the Energy Policy Forum at Cambridge Judge Business School, believes that European and UK energy policies should concentrate on carbon emissions with credible long-term carbon pricing or taxes. If a strategy was in place, natural gas would displace coal and so reduce carbon emissions in the short and medium terms.