Green campaigners strike as ministers plan to fast-track fracking applications, after Lancashire County council rejected an application by Cuadrilla to drill.

Energy Secretary Amber Rudd said councils will be issued with new guidance to speed up hearings for hydraulic fracturing or fracking which sees water pumped into rocks at high pressure to release shale gas. These new rules will make it easier for ministers to intervene if local authorities are deemed to be holding up applications. (Source - Mirror, 2015)

SMi is delighted to announce that Professor Nigel Brandon, BG Chair in Sustainable Gas at Imperial College London and Panel Member at Task Force on Shale Gas will be attending the 6th annual Shale Gas Environmental Summit, taking place in London, on the 26th and 27th of October 2015. Professor Nigel Brandon will be speaking on Day 2 of the conference on "The role of shale gas in energy security ".

In his presentation Nigel Brandon will discuss the role of shale gas in the energy system, the impact of shale gas on UK energy imports, how shale gas will be able to contribute to the UK’s energy security, and will discuss the realistic benefits of a shale gas industry in Europe.

With representatives from all sides of the debate surrounding shale gas, this 2 day conference will gain a balanced insight into the environmental debate surrounding shale gas, discuss the risks shale gas poses to health and human rights and focus on solutions for the issue to waste water and leakage.

This, and much more will be presented by:

• Julian O'Halloran, Journalist, BBC

• Professor Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy, Warwick Business School

• Professor Nigel Brandon, BG Chair in Sustainable Gas, Imperial College London & Panel Member, Task Force on Shale Gas

• Mike Holgate, Associate, Aquateria Ltd

• Tim Yeo, Chair of Energy and Climate Change Committee, House of Commons

• Dr. Jonathan Scurlock, Chief Advisor, Renewable Energy and Climate Change, National Farmers Union and many more

The event programme 2015 also includes two interactive post-conference workshops: “Shale Gas: Stakeholder Engagement - Winning the Societal License to Operate,” hosted by Michael Holgate, Energy Consultant, Aquatera, and “The Shale Gas Industry in Germany and Europe - Legal Frameworks and Gaps,” hosted by Andy Gheorghiu, Campaigner & Consultant, Andy Gheorghiu Consulting.