The decision reached by North Yorkshire County Council on
23 May to allow fracking to be restarted in the UK has been welcomed by the
chemical industry.
Speaking after the announcement by the County Council,
Steve Elliott, Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association, said
"This is an important decision and I think the County Council have shown
leadership to the rest of the country. The evidence and submissions have been
closely examined and conclusions drawn. We believe these are the right
conclusions.
It is now more important than ever that, as the process
begins, those of us in favour of shale gas continue the dialogue with local
communities and those who are opposed. This decision should not mean the end of
transparent discussion and debate but what we need now is a measured dialogue
that respects the democratic decision taken by the County Council and focuses
on delivering the benefits that shale gas can bring to local communities and
the UK as a whole, alongside reassurance to the public over safety, health and
environmental standards".
Elliott continued "The extraction of shale gas in
our country will help ensure that the UK becomes increasingly self-reliant on
its future energy needs, reducing the volatility of our energy bills that many
of us have experienced in recent years. Shale will also provide an
essential transition to a lower carbon economy where many energy sources,
including renewables and nuclear, will play their part. There will also
be social benefits, through securing existing and creating new jobs -
delivering spending power at the local community level. For industries
like chemicals, located in the industrial heartlands across the UK, access to
domestic shale gas is a key driver to future investment - making our
energy supply and costs more stable and predictable and making our products
more competitive and attractive to our customers. I hope and believe the
decision taken in North Yorkshire will signal the start of an energy revolution
that not only benefits the country's chemical industry but all of us as UK
citizens."
ENDS
NOTES
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The chemical and pharmaceutical industry adds £15 billion
of value to the UK economy every year from total annual turnover of around £50
billion.
The UK is a leading global chemical and pharmaceutical
producer.
The chemical and pharmaceutical sector is the UK's
largest manufacturing exporter with annual exports of close to £50 billion.
UK Chemical manufacturing productivity, as measured by
output per hour worked, increased by 10% between 2008 and 2014, in contrast
productivity increased by 2.5% in UK services sectors and increased by 5% for
the whole of manufacturing in the same period
The products and technologies made by the chemical
industry enable twice the energy saving compared to that used in their
production.