Letters: Shale gas can be Britain’s biggest boom since 1970s

Energy Secretary Ed Davey has given the green light for drilling for shale gas, which the Government hopes will revolutionise Britain’s energy supply.

Shale gas has revolutionised the American economy and electricity prices have been halved leading to economic revival. Prices there are now a quarter of those paid in Europe. Shale gas has lowered America’s emissions.

Fracking will end our dependence on volatile nations and expensive imports thus protecting UK consumers and industry from rising prices.

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The UK could be sitting on estimated gas reserves of up to 300 trillion cubic feet – enough to supply Britain for 120 years.

China has reserves of 886 trillion enough for two hundred years.

Critics claims that the visual aspect of gas-rigs will be worse than wind turbines are wrong. Drilling and fracking rigs would be on site for only a few months.

Once a well is completed the structures are dismantled and all that is left is the well head which could be fitted into a large garden shed.

Shale gas could become the greatest contribution to Britain’s energy supplies since the North Sea boom of the 1970s.

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow

Good news but work still needed

The release of official figures showing a 4.3 per cent drop in youth unemployment is fantastic news, and confirmation that carefully focused interventions can succeed in assisting young people to find pathways into training and employment.

While Youth Employment Minister Angela Constance is absolutely right to welcome the best job figures in four years, she was also wise to do so with a note of cautious optimism.

That’s because demand for targeted support, particularly from the hardest to reach in our society, is still as high as ever and will remain so into the New Year. In particular, we welcome the Scottish Government’s Make Young People Your Business initiative, which we believe will help Scotland grow young talent and build capacity for the future.

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In the past year, The Prince’s Trust Scotland has supported more than 6000 disadvantaged young people, offering programmes that have helped them to contribute their own talents to economic recovery.

Encouragingly, nearly 80 per cent of participants went on to positive destinations such as work, college or volunteering. For many of those young people, that’s no mean feat. Many will have started 2012 with barriers ranging from low motivation and self-esteem to the consequences of contact with the justice or care system.

We must approach 2013 with a stronger focus than ever on reaching and assisting the many thousands of young people facing another year on the economic fringes.

Heather Gray, director, The Prince’s Trust Scotland