Fracking furore

A few weeks ago, after several months of dedicated encampment, anti-fracking protesters dismantled their camp in West Sussex after energy firm Cuadrilla finished test drilling for oil.

Now – regardless of my feelings about their efforts, or my opinions on fracking generally – if nothing else, it’ll mean I no longer have to try and explain lazy ‘frack-off’ style puns on protestor signage to my 4 year old. Which, I have to tell you, I am thankful for.

How grounded in fact some of the objections to fracking are is open to debate – but the feeling of trepidation on the part of the public is palpable. However unlikely contamination of ground water, or increased noticeable seismic activity might inherently be – and certainly much of the science does suggest that these things are unlikely – human error can still occur, pipes can fail, energy companies can greedily cut corners and even plain old fashioned accidents can happen. But are these risks any higher with fracking as they are for, say, off-shore oil drilling?

My pervading concern is one of ‘fossil fuel fatigue’. Is it really a wise move to give the human race access to yet more fossil fuels? We will definitely burn them, and that will almost certainly (indeed the latest IPCC report suggests that we can be 95% certain of this) lead to an increase in global temperatures.

That’s to say nothing of that fact that it is a stop gap solution – however much gas fracking can liberate from beneath our feet, it will run out at some point. There are of course a myriad of energy alternatives – each with their own pros and cons – but one has always struck me as particularly thrilling.

The on-going development of nuclear fusion has been one of the great adventures – sagas even – of modern science and engineering. And so I was very excited to learn that researchers at the National Ignition Facility in the US have used a form of fusion reactor  to generate more energy than the process consumes. Almost.

The team used 192 beams from the world's most powerful laser to heat and compress a small pellet of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion reactions take place. The amount of energy released through the reactions exceeded the amount of energy being absorbed by the fuel (if not that supplied by the lasers) - the first time this had been achieved at any fusion facility in the world.

This is perhaps the most important step forward in fusion technology for decades. Yet, as if to puncture my growing smugness in our ability to harness power, our cover feature this month reminds me that while we are simply scrabbling around in the enthalpic dust – nature can, in but a moment, unleash more energy than we could possibly handle. Can there be a more vivid example of raw power than an electrical storm in the ash cloud billowing out of an erupting volcano?

Please do have a look at p20 to find out just how these amazing demonstrations occur. Awesome in the proper, old-school, sense of the word.