Baroness Featherstone
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Forests: Coal-bed Methane Extraction
Baroness Featherstone Excerpts(8 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
My Lords, I can certainly confirm that that is the process. Only one commercially running coal-bed methane extraction operation is going on at the moment, and there have been no issues since 2007, when it started, with regard to health and safety or contamination.
Baroness Featherstone (LD)
My Lords, what evidence-based case is there for applying far less stringent environmental controls and protections to coal-bed methane than to hydraulic fracturing?
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
My Lords, the process for coal-bed methane is essentially parallel with that for fracking. There are no separate considerations here—or in so far as they are separate, it is only because of the slightly different technology. Both have extremely robust systems. In addition, if fracking was involved where we have coal-bed methane, a separate system of protections and consents would be needed.