The Department for Energy and Climate Change has issued 176 licences to explore for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas onshore across the UK.
All the companies have to do now is apply for planning permission and ministers have made it quite clear that they support exploration for new resources, with generous tax breaks. It is estimated there is enough shale gas alone to heat Britain for 40 years and bring down energy prices.
There are even promises that each community will be given £10m for allowing fracking over 10 to 25 years. But local people insist they will stage protests just as passionate as the ongoing sit-in around Balcombe .... http://www.telegraph.co.uk
