BERLIN--Germany's cabinet approved draft legislation on
Wednesday effectively banning shale gas fracking for at least five
years despite growing concern along business and western allies
that the country is too reliant on gas imports from Russia.
"As long as risks are unaccountable or currently can't be
conclusively assessed, fracking will remain forbidden," Environment
Minister Barbara Hendricks said, alluding to concerns that the
exploration technique could pollute groundwater.
Germany's draft law bans the use of hydraulic fracturing
technology for drilling operations shallower than 3,000 meters, and
all types of fracking in nature reserves and national parks.
Test drilling for fracking, which involves using a high-pressure
mixture of water, sand and chemicals to break apart rocks to
release shale gas, will be allowed in certain cases for scientific
research however, according to the draft law.
Fracking technology has been used since the 1960s in Germany,
allowing the industry to maximize the output of conventional gas
fields. While fracking for conventional gas deposits will remain
permitted, the new law tightens rules aimed at preventing water
contamination from fluids released during the fracking process.
Germans are suspicious of fracking, fearing that it could poison
agricultural and water supplies. Shale-gas carrying rock formations
tend to be closer to the surface, and therefore closer to
groundwater deposits.
Last week, Ms. Hendricks, a politician from the center-left
Social Democrats, told broadcaster ARD that "we don't need"
fracking, insisting that over the next two decades Germany is
"expanding renewable energy sources further and energy efficiency
technologies are getting better."
In Germany, gas is used mainly for heating, making it difficult
to replace by alternative energy sources that are focused on
generating power.
The government has said that it could change its mind on
fracking if the energy industry were to improve its environmental
track record and replace toxic substances with harmless ones. A
panel of experts will reassess technological and scientific
developments in mid-2018, potentially allowing commercial fracking
in some cases from 2019.
Business representatives have slammed the draft law and called
for Germany to allow fracking as a way of reducing the country's
dependence on Russian gas.
Markus Kerber, head of the Federation of German Industry, known
as BDI, warned the debate in Germany was paying too little
attention to aspects like security of supply, value creation, and
future technological developments.
"We're still dependent on the use of domestic gas to avoid
reliance on imports," Mr. Kerber said.
Many energy-intensive German chemical and engineering groups,
which face high energy prices here, have been beefing up investment
in the U.S. in order take advantage of shale gas fracking.
But the political standoff with Russia, Germany's main natural
gas supplier, over its annexation of Crimea and the crisis in
eastern Ukraine has done little to boost enthusiasm for fracking
among politicians.
Russia is Germany's biggest gas supplier, accounting for 39% of
German natural gas imports in 2013 according to the Federal Agency
for Geoscience and Raw Materials.
The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, will discuss the
draft law and deliver an opinion on May 8. The bill will likely
face opposition when it reaches the lower house of parliament--the
Bundestag--from Greens who don't think the law goes far enough
banning fracking outright.
Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats have
also spoken out against the law on environmental grounds.
Conservative lawmaker Andreas Mattfeldt told Deutschlandradio
Kultur radio on Wednesday that party members take issue with the
law's planned assessment of the environmental impact of test
drilling and on the transport of waste water.
Surveys indicate voters are divided on fracking. The last poll
by Forsa found 34% oppose it and 33% support it, with a further 25%
supporting fracking as long as it is non-toxic. More than half of
respondents said Germany should become less reliant on Russian gas
given the conflict in Ukraine. The poll of 1,001, published last
October, had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage
points.
Nonetheless, Fitch Ratings last week called the prospects for
fracking in Germany "not great," as fracking in countries like
Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine has stalled due to
environmental opposition or a failure to find economically viable
quantities of gas.
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com
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