Fife Council Demands Action On UCG

Fife Council is demanding action from the Scottish Government and Westminster on the future of unconventional oil and gas developments, particularly underground coal gasification.

When the issue was debated at full Council, Elected Members welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to hold a moratorium on unconventional gas extraction and tabled a motion calling for the Government to include UCG in its moratorium, as well as review all unconventional gas extraction.

The Council now continues to press Westminster to grant no more licences for UCG, a technique that produces gas from underground coal seams, in Scotland and for the Scottish Government to include the extraction method in its moratorium and review of UGE.

Cllr Lesley Laird, Fife Council’s Depute Leader and Executive Spokesperson Economy and Planning, said: “Fife Council is now demanding a moratorium on UCG, in addition to the current Scottish Government moratorium on fracking, as this would allow for a full public health impact study and a full public consultation and review to be completed.

“We want to make the best decisions possible for the people living and working around the Firth of Forth, preserve the local environment and support local democracy. As Fife is one of the local authority areas likely to be most impacted by unconventional energy, we want to make sure that elected representatives, local communities and businesses are fully engaged in decisions that will shape their local area.”

Cllr Tom Adam who proposed the motion said: “The full environmental, health and climate change impacts of this experimental technology must be assessed before any decisions are taken. More needs to be understood about the environmental impacts of UCG at the extraction and post-extraction stage. The Scottish Government really has to take UCG seriously and include it in the moratorium on unconventional gas extraction. That is why Fife Council’s Leader, Cllr David Ross, is writing again to the Scottish Government and the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and powerfully calling for urgent action.”