The International Energy Agency wants to stop the shale gas revolution

The International Energy Agency continues its climate alarmist crusade.  Now the agency (founded in response to the oil crisis in the 70´s) has launched an attack on natural gas in general and shale gas in particular:

Natural gas is not the “panacea” to solve climate change that fossil fuel industry lobbyists have been claiming, according to new research from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Gas is likely to make up about one-quarter of the world’s energy supply by 2035, according to the study, but that would lead the world to a 3.5C temperature rise. At such a level, global warming could run out of control, deserts would take over in southern Africa, Australia and the western US, and sea level rises could engulf small island states.


The IEA´s chief economist - in reality much more its chief climate alarmist - Fatih Birol, described as  "one of the world’s foremost authorities on energy and climate" is doing his best in order to prevent the American shale gas revolution from spreading to other parts of the world:

But Birol pointed to evidence that exploiting unconventional gas could bring severe environmental damage. In the US, there are many reports of contamination in the water supply near shale gas sites, and dangerous leaks of natural gas. In the UK, two small earthquakes have taken place near sites where a company is using “fracking” – the process of releasing gas from dense shale rocks by blasting it with water and chemicals. Fracking operations have been halted while investigations take place to establish whether there is a link.


Here is the reason, why Birol and his colleagues do not like the shale gas revolution:

 “If gas prices come down, that would put a lot of pressure on governments to review their existing renewable energy support policies … We may see many renewable energy projects put on the shelf.”

Read the entire article here

PS
The IEA´s chief alarmist has got the point in Michael Lind´s article about why renewable energy could soon be a thing of the past, and is now, together with the enviro-fundamentalist lobby, trying to prevent the world from having clean and cheap energy - shale gas - urgently needed in order to eradicate poverty in the developing world. Improving the lot of poor people must be sacrified in order to keep the climate scare alive!