In this week’s listings
- Week of hearings by the Permanent People’s Tribunal on fracking;
- More witnesses give evidence to parliamentary inquiry on fracking planning guidance;
- Decision meeting on applications for oil exploration at N Kelsey and Biscathorpe;
- Seventh week of United Resistance campaign against fracking in Lancashire;
- Drop-in meeting on shale gas regulation in Lancashire;
- Plus film screenings, meetings, workshops and a deadline.
Diary for the May 2018 and beyond here. Please let us know here if you’d like us to add your events or if any details are wrong
Monday 14 May 2018
United Resistance week seven – Uniting the Roses. 7am-6.30pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
Cake day in Lancashire and Yorkshire Week of the United Resistance campaign. Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE.
Meeting of Lincolnshire County Council planning committee on applications by Egdon Resources for drilling at North Kelsey and Biscathorpe. 10am, Council Chamber, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL. Details
Photo: Lincolnshire County Council
Green Monday at Preston New Road shale gas site. 10am-1pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
Clive Betts MP, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee.
Oral evidence hearing for the inquiry into planning guidance on fracking by the Housing, Communities and Local Government select committee. Witnesses include: Sally Gill, Group Planning Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council; Nicola Howarth, Minerals Planner, Peak District National Park Authority; Andrew Mullaney, Head of Planning and Environment, Lancashire County Council; Richard Flinton, Chief Executive, North Yorkshire County Council; Mark Ellis-Jones, Programme Executive – Onshore Oil & Gas Programme, Environment Agency; Tom Wheeler, Director of Regulation, Oil and Gas Authority. 4pm, venue to be confirmed. Details
Opening of The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights, Fracking and Climate Change. All sessions are online. The sessions run until Friday 18 May. Link to schedule. (Timings are Pacific Time – eight hours ahead of British Summer Time). More details on the tribunal
Frack Free Leeds fortnightly meeting. 7pm, The George Pub, 67-69 Great George Street,Leeds LS1 3BB. Details
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Photo: United Resistance
United Resistance week seven – Uniting the Roses. 6.30am-6.30pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE, including Dawn Chorus Walk at 6.30am and Flags and Banners Parade at 2pm. Details
Fracking information drop-in. 10am-11am, Ranskill Church Hall, Nottinghamshire. Details
Day of sessions of The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights, Fracking and Climate Change. All sessions are online. Link to schedule. (Timings are Pacific Time – eight hours ahead of British Summer Time). More details on the tribunal
Sheffield Climate Alliance monthly meeting. 7pm, Quaker Meeting House, St. James Street, Sheffield S1 2EW. Details
Frack Free Yeovil General Meeting. 7pm-9pm, Back Lane, Chetnole DT9 6PL. Details and contact for precise venue location
Film screening of Power Trip: Fracking in the UK. 7pm-9.30pm, Regather, 57-59 Club Garden Road, Sheffield S11 8BU. Details
Are we going to be fracked? 8pm, The Union, 300 Barrow Road, Sheffield S9 1JQ. (Rescheduled from 22 May 2018). Details
Wednesday 16 May 2018
United Resistance week seven – Uniting the Roses. 7am-6.30pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
Women’s Call march and vigil at Preston New Road shale gas site. 9.30am-10.30am, Maple Farm, Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
Drop-in information session about Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road fracking site near Blackpool. Hosted by the Environment Agency, Oil and Gas Authority, Public Health England, Health and Safety Executive, Lancashire County Council and Fylde Council. 3pm-7.30pm, Weeton Village Hall, Church Road, Weeton PR4 3WD.
Day of sessions of The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights, Fracking and Climate Change. All sessions are online. Link to schedule. (Timings are Pacific Time – eight hours ahead of British Summer Time). More details on the tribuna
Film screening of Power Trip: Fracking in the UK. 6.30pm-9.30pm, Oxford Quaker Meeting, 43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW. Details
Thursday 17 May 2018
United Resistance week seven – Uniting the Roses. 7am-6.30pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE, including Sunshine Day events with music, refreshments and punch and judy. Details
Day of sessions of The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights, Fracking and Climate Change. All sessions are online. Link to schedule. (Timings are Pacific Time – eight hours ahead of British Summer Time). More details on the tribuna
Film screening of The Bentley Effect. 7pm, The Venue, 650 Manchester Road, Sheffield S36 1DY. Details
Friday 18 May 2018
United Resistance week seven – Uniting the Roses. 7am-6.30pm, Maple Farm, Preston New Road Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE, including welcome to Yorkshire supporters, with music, entertainment and refreshments. Details
Visit by Fernando Cabrera, of the Argentinian Observatorio Petrolero Sur and anti-fracking campaigners from Yorkshire. Preston New Road, near Blackpool PR4 3PE.
Black Friday at Preston New Road shale gas site. 10am-4pm, Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
The 100 Women March to Cuadrilla’s shale gas site near Blackpool, 3 April 2018. Photo: Refracktion
Final day of sessions of The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights, Fracking and Climate Change. All sessions are online. Link to schedule. (Timings are Pacific Time – eight hours ahead of British Summer Time). More details on the tribuna
Film screening of Power Trip: Fracking in the UK. 7pm-11pm, St Paul’s West Hackney, 182 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 7UY. Details
Blidworth question time. 7.30pm-9pm, Sherwood Forest Community Church, Main Street, Blidworth NG21 0PX. Details
Closing date of consultation on Derbyshire Minerals Local Plan. Details
Saturday 19 May 2018
Solidarity Sunday at Preston New Road shale gas site. 10am-2pm, Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, near Blackpool PR4 3PE. Details
Power Up: How to influence planning decisions. Event hosted by Liverpool Friends of the Earth. 10.30am-5.30pm, Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BT. Details
Film screening of Power Trip: Fracking in the UK. Wood Festival, Braziers Park, Oxfordshire. Details
Sunday 20 May 2018
Persistent resistance. Gathering of South West protectors – workshops, speakers, information sharing, updates and film screening. 11am-4pm, Clevedon Community Centre, 2 Princes Road, Clevedon BS21 7SZ. Details
Above event includes Film screening of Power Trip: Fracking in the UK.
Categories: Diary
DRILL OR DROP? 
Not long now till they inadvertently name one of the groups the ‘guerilla group’. Permanent People’s, United Resistance etc are on the same track.
“United Resistance”-week 7!!
Perhaps weeks 1-6 were cancelled? Or is it with oil and gas prices starting to impact all householders cost of living, the two thirds (and growing) have more important considerations? Like-how to get their children to school without a pencil case! (DYOR-Giggle will explain.)
Greedledum and Greedledim
Agreed to have a frackle;
For Greedledum said Greedledim
Had spoiled their nice new prattle.
Then people threw down a demonstrous “No”!
And cracked their empty “Carroll”;
Which frightened both the zeroes so,
They quite forgot their drilling tackle!
Back to boring reality – this week there was a video interview with the European Commision’s Head of Internal Energy Competition. One of his quotes is interesting….
“I do not understand people saying that gas can only be a bridging fuel for renewables […]Under the current situation, you may get to 50% renewable share in the whole system. How do you fill the rest? For me, that is the role of gas, the future role of gas”.
BUT he goes on to say that “gas” will include not just natural gas but also gas from Power to Gas projects. Power-to-gas is a technology that converts electrical power to a gas fuel. When using surplus power from wind generation, the concept is sometimes called windgas. There are currently three methods in use; all use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen by means of electrolysis. Obviously the burning of hydrogen is a zero carbon technology. This solution has also been put forward by academics from the Oxford Institute as a way forward for a zero carbon future although I think they preferred the idea of extracting hydrogen from natural gas before burning, removing any CO2 emissions by this process.
So it may be that technological advances may help to bridge the renewables intermittency problem. Just made me think that many people who favour renewables also tend to be anti technology generally whereas actually the biggest reductions in energy consumption in the last 20 years or so have come from hi-tech, I’m thinking particularly of LED bulbs, more efficient engines and motors, intelligent control of heating systems etc.
Sorry can’t resist it – “Cake day in Lancashire and Yorkshire Week of the United Resistance campaign” – just what percentage of those cakes were cooked in a gas oven? Eating cake must surely remind one of the value of natural gas as a heating fuel.