An increase in unconventional gas production would be “a good
move if it replaces coal,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief
economist said at the launch of ‘Golden rules for the Golden Age
of Gas’ in Brussels, “but it is definitely not the optimum
path.” “The optimum path would be to see more renewables, more
efficiency and more low carbon technologies,” he added. Shale
gas has the potential to bridge the transition to a decarbonised
economy, if a series of social, regulatory and environmental
rules are followed, the IEA’s report says. But environmental
groups have complained that by the agency’s own estimates, this
would put the world on a trajectory to 3.5 degrees Celsius of
global warming, which would in turn produce “a different planet”
according to Dr James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for
Space Studies. “Industry-biased thinking will lock Europe into
fossil fuel dependency, undermining renewable energy
developments and Europe’s ability to reduce emissions,” Antoine
Simon, an extractive industries campai