Fracking: more diplomacy is needed

The government has not helped its cause in failing to sell the controversial process of 'fracking' to the public. Matthew Partridge reports.

Protests over fracking near the West Sussex town of Balcombe have rekindled the debate about the controversial gas and oil drilling process. "The widespread use of shale gas is quite simply incompatible with the government's international commitments to keep global warming below two degrees," argued Green MP Caroline Lucas who was arrested for protesting in The Independent.

Lucas also pointed out that Deutsche Bank, Chatham House, and Ofgem "all predict that it will not bring down fuel bills". The US is a very different country, and comparisons with the boom across the Atlantic "just do not stand up". Instead of shale, there should be "a future based on renewables, alongside greater investment in energy efficiency".

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri