U.K. study confirms safety of shale gas production

A new study from the U.K. backs up what industry experts and others have been saying for years: that the hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) process used to produce shale gas and some other types of natural gas does not pose undue risks to the environment. The study was produced by the U.K. Parliament’s House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee.

The full report can be read here. But its conclusion was summed up by the committee’s chairman, Tim Yeo MP, who said:

“There has been a lot of hot air recently about the dangers of shale gas drilling, but our inquiry found no evidence to support the main concern – that U.K. water supplies would be put at risk. There appears to be nothing inherently dangerous about the process of ‘fracking’ itself and as long as the integrity of the well is maintained shale gas extraction should be safe.”

Of course, the debate over hydraulic fracturing has been prominent here in the States, too. And there’s no doubt it is critical that consumers and governments alike are re-assured about the safety of the process, because the stakes are high for our nation.

Why? In just the past few years, rising unconventional gas production already has created thousands of well-paying jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for states around the country. At the same time, these new supplies have helped keep domestic gas prices relatively low. On top of that, natural gas burns up to 60 percent cleaner than coal in power generation, so rising gas production is helping meet environmental goals.

The U.K. study was the result of a six-month effort by the committee and included written and oral evidence as well as meetings with a range of organizations in the United Kingdom and the United States, including ExxonMobil, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Sierra Club. Members found that fracking and other steps involved in drilling for shale gas are no more risky than drilling for conventional oil and gas:

“There is no evidence that the hydraulic fracturing process poses any risk to underground water aquifers provided that the well casing is intact before the process commences. Rather, the risks of water contamination are due to issues of well integrity, and are no different to concerns encountered during the extraction of oil and gas from conventional reservoirs. “

We agree that when wells are properly designed and completed – and when detailed procedures are used to manage air quality and to reuse or responsibly dispose of water – natural gas can be produced while protecting water supplies and the environment. In fact, we’re talking about ExxonMobil’s approach to natural gas production in an ad running in major national newspapers this week.

As the U.K. study points out, the technologies and well integrity procedures being used today to produce unconventional gas are not new and have been used by the industry for decades. What is new is the combination of two existing technologies — hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The study also points out the need for operators to adhere to best practices for safety and operational integrity, just as it does for traditional oil and gas drilling.  We could not agree more. I will discuss these subjects in more depth in the coming weeks.

But for now, I think this study should give confidence to U.S. citizens and lawmakers who want assurance that natural gas can be produced safely and responsibly.

Reflection on the Tour

The 2-week tour passed in a twinkle and stimulated me in many ways. I enjoyed the group activities as well as the free time on our own since this allows me to look into the country from both macro and micro levels.



I am very much impressed by the high awareness of preserving the past the UK government has. The historical sites and museums are well preserved and managed. The designs of the exhibitions and audio guides provide useful and clear information about the history of the places and people in the past. What is more, the preservation is done not only for the purpose of record. I got quite touched as I stepped on the creaking and squeaking upper floors in Shakespeare’s Houses when we were in Stratford-upon-Avon. Since the Houses are old in ages and quite fragile, it might be a lot better preserved if not open to the public. However they are still open to public visits. I think this particularly highlights the government’s determination to preserve the history physically as well as in the education level.



I am also very impressed by and enjoyed the art and cultural atmosphere in the UK. Upon arrival, I was taken aback by how reading is popular among Underground passengers. Later I realize that there are many opportunities for the people to engage themselves in great art and cultural activities. Not only are there easily accessible public libraries, bookstores and second-hand bookshops, there are also a large number of museums and galleries. In addition, there are theatre performances and festivals. I also enjoyed myself in these activities. I had a great time with the Shakespearean plays and the “Mamma Mia!” musical as well as my visits to bookstores and exhibitions.



During this 2-week, I have enjoyed the journey as well as got many stimulations. The great time during the journey will remain as great experiences and memories in my mind.

Denise Chan - Reflection of the UK

Spending two weeks in the United Kingdom did not seem like two weeks at all. The long-waited UK tour has finally arrived after the exhausting exam period. This tour gave me a brand new angle in experiencing the culture and the life in Britain, which was nothing similar to tours organized by local travel agency. I was very impressed by how British people treated their culture and immersed it into their daily lives.



By seeing the great number of various museums spreading all over London, and the museum-goers enthusiastic and serious faces when they carefully examined the exhibits, I knew people in the United Kingdom embraced their culture and history more than Hong Kong people do. Visitors did spend long periods of time in front of a piece of drawing or sculpture, looking at every single detail until they got the full picture of the artwork. Some people even brought along with their own drawing tools and sketch books to make their own copies of the masterpieces. I was quite surprised seeing these scenes that I thought it was almost impossible to find people doing the same things in Hong Kong. Museums in Hong Kong are not always seen as major attractions for tourism just like those in Britain do, and people in Hong Kong usually spend a few minutes only on a piece of work without thoroughly study all the details of the work and its cultural and historical background. Even though I was not completely sure about the reason behind for the different habits in visiting museums between people in these two places, this was certainly a surprise when I found out about British people’s in-depth visits of the museums.



Another remarkable experience of the tour was watching plays and operas, which was some unique activities to do in Britain that I enjoyed very much. I have watched Much Ado About Nothing and Phantom of the Opera during the trip. It was my first time to watch live performance of such classical works. The quality of the performing crews was excellent that they could catch your breath as the story went on, without boring their audience for one second. Moreover, I could hardly distinguish whether I was watching a live performance or a movie since there was not any traces of error which should be unavoidable in live shows. My friends and I did really have a great time enjoying the shows that how much we wished to have more time watching other plays.



Although we have visited many impressive places in the United Kingdom during the two-weeks tour, I still found it not enough and wished that I could have more time to dig deeper into its rich culture in my next visit.

Beyond the Boundary

Among the museums we visited throughout the tour, I was most impressed by Tate Modern Museum. I spent one evening and one morning there and explored all of the four collection displays. One piece of artwork in the collection display themed “Energy and Process” struck me as particularly creative. It is a 14 minute video that captures the momentary aspect of pieces of urban detritus as they lie on the streets and are constantly transformed by wind. Carrying the title of “Incidents”, the video casts a new light on the usually ignored corners of urban life. It allows the viewer to discover formal beauty in objects seemingly irrelevant with visual pleasure. The fleeting sculptural or architectural quality of these detritus echoes the title of “Incidents”, since their instable forms highlight the role of chance and contingency. When I first stood before the installed screen watching the video, I failed to understand the point of the work. I was painfully trying to figure out its meaning and message, only to find that there wasn’t any. It was not until I gave up the efforts to interpret the detritus and let intuition take over that the video’s absorbing power began to work upon me. In fact, this is the most important lesson I learned from the Tate Modern Museum. To appreciate modern art or even art in general, I need to unload myself with the burden of interpretation and make full use of the senses to perceive and “experience” the work. Intuition is of foremost importance when it comes to art. When I entered another room and approached Andy Warhol’s famous self-portraits, one of his quotations provided me with an aphoristic summary: “If you want to know Andy Warhol, just look at the surface. There’s nothing behind it.”



Art reminds me of the importance of intuition, which can be easily dismissed or forgotten when one is buried in books. The intuitive faculty enables one to go beyond the boundary of self and get in a closer contact with the outside world. Interestingly, the necessity to open oneself and step outside one’s ego turned out to be a key theme in the story of Much Ado about Nothing. I kept thinking about the problem of ego and the boundary of self when reading the text as well as watching the Globe performance. I can still remember the opening sentences by the Warwick professor when he began to analyze the characters: Unlike in the case of Claudio and Hero, love is not only about adoring in the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice. It’s also about competing and criticizing and ripping the mask off somebody’s face. I’ve been reading a book titled Eros the Bittersweet these days, and something interesting can be drawn from that book to analyze the character of Benedick and Beatrice. In the Greek tradition, eros is often informed by metaphors of disease, wound and death, for the erotic emotion is seen by most lyrical poets as an incursion to their ego, robbing them of self-possession and the original state of content and peace. Little wonder that Eros the Greek god was given the name of “limb-loosener”. The Greeks are keenly sensitive to the aggressive force of love, for the self ceases to be complete once it desires someone outside itself. The expropriation of the self is the source of bitterness that we find present in an erotic emotion. In this light, the Greek logic of human psyche can readily explain the two characters’ strong contempt of love: Both Benedick and Beatrice have a huge ego and, as a result, love is seen by them as an intrusion to the ego. As a mechanism of self-defense, they protect themselves from the overwhelming power of love and often tend to “mock it into air”. Hypocrisy is hinted, but it’s far from evil. The two characters’ changing attitude towards love marks the maturation of their self knowledge. Although they seem to be deeply convinced of the unconquerable agency of the self at the beginning, love teaches them to reach beyond the boundary of ego and acknowledge the porous sponge-like nature of the self. 



Art, love and self are all issues of boundaries. The painting on the wall in Prof. Prickett’s garden pops up in my mind as a perfect analogue. The wall confines the garden within a small closure of space, and yet the painting of far-reaching sceneries opens it into infinity. This is a trip about crossing boundaries, the ones of nation, language and culture. Art and literature have always been the forces that push the world to challenge its own boundaries and redefine the possible, and as a literature major, I also wish to go further beyond my original niche and open myself to the diverse possibilities of the world. The UK study tour is a good start.

Chloe Lam Journal

First of all, I appreciate the attitude of the British towards its history, traditions and culture. They are eager to tell, show and demonstrate their own treasure to others. I find it very fascinating and absorbing in visiting every historical site, museum or even just looking at the architecture on the streets. The British highly cultured feature became more prominent and comfortable when I came to Paris. Tourists were surrounded by a flock of souvenirs salespeople who kept approaching you and disturbing you from enjoying the attractions. My friend and I were greeted with spit after shaking our heads to a deaf and mute woman asking for kind donation. I was so astonished that I could not move or speak because I had never been treated so rudely in Britain. The warmest greeting in Britain was the passionate introduction of Bath given by an enthusiastic and nice old man. Both races are proud of their own cultures. I think the difference lies upon the willingness of sharing that with other people.



Another thing I learnt from British was having literature as a part of life. People there read thick books in the underground, which is a rare scene in Hong Kong. Children, the elderly and young couples watch Shakespeare dramas, musicals and operas as a leisure activity. It certainly has something to do with education system. However, after watching Much Ado About Nothing in Shakespeare Globe Theatre, I realised that literature could be easily accessible for everyone, depending on the method of presentation. Most of Hong Kong people would be scared away by English, no to say to appreciate Shakespeare or other great English authors. Indeed, I have never thought that Shakespeare can, on one hand, have a deep insight on human nature, but on the other hand, reveal it in a light and comical way. The drama stimulates my interest in studying more Shakespearean works.



Usually, when we step backward, we can see a bigger and clearer picture. In the past, I hated living in Hong Kong. It is crowded, small and seriously polluted. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Everything in England, France, Germany and other big countries seemed better. However, after the trip, I realised that Hong Kong is never worse than those dominant countries, despite of its size. The infrastructure in Hong Kong is more advanced. At least there are escalators in MTR stations. The services provided in restaurants, airports and shops are satisfactory and efficient. Perhaps some of the Hong Kongers are arrogant and haughty but they will not show their racial superiority explicitly to strangers. I start to appreciate my own country more and in an objective way.



Finally, travelling is also a very good way to get a better understanding about myself when staying far away from my family and most of my friends. I know I am an independent and outgoing girl. I am excited in exploring a new environment. But there should be something else. For example, in the trip, I came to know that I was good at figuring out the directions and reading maps. It surprised me because I dislike geography and I nearly failed my geography exam when I was secondary one student. I can also be a skilful photographer or maybe I got enough practice throughout the trip, while usually I am taken photos in Hong Kong. I would better stop now to prevent other naming me as a narcissist. Anyway, it is wonderful and amazing to find out more facets of my character and develop my potentials through travelling.

Vivian Man Journal

Throughout the trip, I was mostly surprised at how the element of war persisted, every place seemed to mimic the history of war and it inevitably provoked me to think about how our world today is in fact still at war, but in a different form.



The British Museum would definitely be the first place with the experience of war. Having monuments and architectural pieces from all around the world, the exhibitions inside astounded me at first but I was also aware of the fact that all of these were “taken” as a result of the British Empire winning over countries that were relatively powerless and vulnerable. Despite war is still happening in less developed countries nowadays, people are keen to voice the destructive effects of war as compared to the past by protesting on streets or voicing their opinions through action, an example of that would be the sculpture in the African section known as the “Throne of Weapons”, created by an organization called “Transforming arms into tools”. This particular sculpture not only reminded people of the devastating outcomes of war, its presence in the museum in the form of a chair symbolizes the importance of dropping weapons and anger as a way to maintain peace.



Another place worthy of note would be the Imperial War Museum. While I was not particularly amazed by the tanks and army equipments, it was how the museum illustrated different people at war that struck me the most. I remembered walking down the aisle before entering the exhibitions of the WWI and WWII, and I was immediately awed by the large black and white photos that ran along the hallway, showing the injured, the innocent and the separation between a mother and a son. The subjects were anonymous and there wasn’t a single one with a description beside it. To me, the museum had intended to leave it blank, as by doing so it further emphasizes we are actually only looking at a few of the entire population involved.  The “Children at War” section which displayed numerous letters of children to their parents and photographs of them being exploited to a foreign environment was another one that impressed me a lot. The depiction of war through a child’s angle revealed how their childhood consisted of separation, terror and the uncertainty of whether their parents were alive or not in the war field. War is destructive and can be even more painful when these little ones have to grow up under that shadow.



Walking around central London, we often saw newly constructed modern buildings, but given that this was a place with a prolonged history and past, these fine buildings again reminded me that the former building was bombarded during the war. Apart from sitting in Starbucks enjoying your coffee, let us not forget about the cost behind our peacefulness.

Andrea Tsoi Journal

This UK Study Tour has brought to me a culture unveiled.  As an English major student, I have always thought of Britain as a cultural empire that belongs to the past, in which they said that they would rather lose India than Shakespeare. My understanding of the British culture has always been shaped by my study of classic English literature.  My perception of the culture is almost limited to the pages that I read and write about.  This tour, however, provided me with the first-hand experience, interacting with the local people, tasting authentic British food, all introduces to me who the British are in real life.  Although I only had six days in London during the trip, I came to realize that the British is truly distinct from the rest of the Europe.  Prior to the trip, I have always regarded British people as European, and never understood why people would say “the British and the Europeans.” During my days in London, I realized that the British are a lot more reserved, polite, and cold. Their culture is more distinct, isolated, and is influenced less by the continental European culture when it comes to visual art, drama, and food.  There are certainly more similarities between, for example, Spanish food and Italian food, while British food is more of one of its kind. These differences remind me of Japanese in Asia.  Similar to the distinction between the British versus the European, the Japanese also refer to themselves as Japanese, which is different from the Asians.  Similarly, Japan also composes isolated islands from the continental Asia, and the Japanese people also tend to be more polite and less communal.



Being the former colony of the UK, it feels complicated travelling around London.  There are certainly similarities between Hong Kong and London: the announcements in the tube, and the familiar traffic lights, etc. Yet it definitely feels foreign at the same time: Londoners are more polite and quite than Chinese people.  After the handover, Hong Kong seems to have gone through the the reverse of evolution: people stopped giving seats to pregnant women and elderlies, together with holding the door for the one coming behind you. I would not blame it on the mainlanders in Hong Kong because that is the case too in the university campus.  The English proficiency of Hong Kong people is the same case as suggested in the ongoing debate of teaching medium in local schools. It has deteriorated to an alarming level, especially among school children, and even university students. Therefore, in a way, this trip to London feels like the temporary return of the prodigal son to me.



This visit is arguably a disillusionment of the “big Chinese dream.”  If one is familiar with the Hong Kong media, one is easily led to believe how strong China is and how influential it will become in the coming decades.  There is, however, a much darker side to it.  The economic development of China keeps out eyes off the political instability: the detention of Ai Weiwei (who is now released), the deteriorating human rights, and the democracy that we are never going to reach.  This visit to London reminds me of how strong Europe and the UK still are and China still has a long way to go.  Being a strong country is never just about money.  When all the educated and the clear-minded are trying to leave and escape the country (think Ai Weiwei, for example), there is certainly something wrong with the way the country is governed.



The British culture is also more “cultured,” to put it bluntly.  People would read newspapers in the tube rather than playing with their phones (yet perhaps that has to do with the fact that the mobile network does not cover the tube stations). There are free newspapers around every street corner and posters for drama and musicals inside every tube station.  This “culture” is something that Hong Kong people never inherited from the British, and is not likely to nurture it in the foreseeable future.  Regardless, I was inspired to pick up a book again and stop playing with my phone in the MTR from now on.  I hope I can keep up to this habit and at least influence people around me to do the same.