LETTER: Try underwater turbines instead

I note Mr Pickering’s bold claim that fracking will revitalise industry and manufacturing in the East Midlands economy “fuelled by access to cheaper energy”.

I don’t recall any boom in the local economy when the North Sea gas bonanza was at its peak in the 80s and 90s. I remember rather the opposite.

Similar claims were made by the nuclear industry in the 60s and 70s.

He also makes a similar claim of a renaissance in manufacturing in America where there are well over a million fracking wells. Strange, but my television screen tells me that there is a crisis in American manufacturing with millions of angry blue collar workers losing their jobs in recent years.

Well, what can we expect? Mr Pickering claims INEOS will proceed with caution. Let’s be honest here. Gas is a global business, with shareholders to keep happy. Modern business is entirely profit driven.

How do the American people feel about fracking?

A recent Gallup poll puts opposition rising from 40 per cent in 2015 to 51 per cent in 2016, with those in favour down to 36 per cent. So it seems the American public aren’t enjoying the experience as much as we are led to believe.

In recent years, several British manufacturers have built and tested underwater turbines which are powered by underwater currents and generate large amounts of electricity in a completely unobtrusive way. These efforts have been totally ignored by the Government in my view. These things are smaller in size than a wind turbine but have a large output. They could be built anywhere, including the East Midlands. So why are we spending millions and billions on breaking up the rocks under our feet?

Dave Simpson

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