MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – The majority of Danish citizens believe that extracting shale gas should be a part of Denmark’s energy future, reported The Copenhagen Post, citing a survey conducted by newspaper Jyllands-Posten and research firm Wilke.
According to The Copenhagen Post, more than half of Danes that took part in the survey are in favor of exploiting shale gas as an energy source. A quarter of the survey’s respondents opposed the idea.
The prospect of shale gas use caused concerns in the ranks of environmentalists, their major concern being its extraction process.
Shale gas, found trapped within underground shale formations, is extracted via hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Fracking is the subject of controversy because the pressurized liquids that are used to extract gas can lead to ground water contamination, and the process itself to air and noise pollution. The process can even trigger earthquakes.
The proponents of fracking cite the economic benefits of vast amounts of shale gas as their main argument.
All these concerns arise in light of the city of Frederikshavn’s authorities’ decision to drill the first test wells to see if there is any shale gas under the Danish soil.
“If there is shale gas under Danish soil and it is possible to extract it without harming the surrounding environment, then we should do it,” Lars Christian Lilleholt, liberal party Venstre’s energy spokesperson told Jyllands-Posten, according to The Copenhagen Post.
The newspaper also said that environmental organizations claimed the support of shale gas extraction conflicted with the government’s plans for a fossil fuel-free Denmark by 2050.
