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I had a discussion about this and was genuinely interested but no one could really offer any insight.

  • I'm Interested in anyone who can tell me why Amendment 54 to the Renewables Obligation could lead to fracking by the UK government? As far as I can tell, it's completely unrelated.
  • Does this in any way put any form of restrictions on the Scottish Parliament?
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  • Text of the amendment can be found in this document, on this page – Steve Melnikoff Dec 6 '13 at 17:09
  • I'm guessing that means that changes (to what extent?) need to be validated by the Secretary of State?. And what about it's role in the use of fracking by the UK government. – Ross Drew Dec 6 '13 at 18:09
  • For the benefit of those of us who aren't already familiar with the issue, could you summarize the context for us? Is the potential for amendment54 to lead to fracking a well known concern in your area? – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica♦ Dec 6 '13 at 21:43
  • Well no. Some of those in favor of independence claim this amendment will lead to fracking by the UK government and I don't understand why the issues are related. – Ross Drew Dec 7 '13 at 14:37
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In the debate linked to in the question Michael Fallon asserts the following:

Over time, with the carbon price floor and a strengthening emissions trading scheme, the economics of coal generation will deteriorate further compared with gas.

And a bit later on:

I have also considered the argument that the amendment would provide greater certainty to investors looking to build the new gas plant that we all agree will be needed. [...] We already face a significant investment challenge with an estimated 16 GW of new gas plant, and about 45 GW in total of all forms of generating capacity, needed over the decade from 2015 to 2024.

I take it from this that the amendment is intended to increase the generation of electricity from natural gas. If the demand for natural gas increased, this could certainly increase the incentive to invest in fracking in turn.

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