Research published by Friends of the Earth has suggested that one well would need to be drilled and fracked every day for 15 years to produce enough gas to halve the amount imported to the UK. To reduce the amount of imported gas by such an amount, 6,100 wells would be required, according to analysis by Professor Calvin Jones, from Cardiff Business School. But if the gas produced per well was low, up to 16,500 wells would be needed. Friends of the Earth, advocate of renewable energy, points out that the government has said fracking would provide additional supplies, “reducing our reliance on imports”, but according to this research, fracking could significantly reduce imports only if “England’s countryside was littered with fracking wells”.

Currently, fracking in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has been stopped, which means the required number of wells would need to be built in England. The report can be found on the Friends of the Earth website (pdf).