Publication - Consultation paper

Unconventional oil and gas policy: SEA

Published: 23 October 2018
Directorate: Energy and Climate Change Directorate
Topic: Economy, Energy, Environment and climate change
ISBN: 9781787813014

Environmental report for the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of our preferred policy position on unconventional oil and gas in Scotland.

Supporting documents

14 Summary of environmental effects

14.1 Table 14.1 presents a high level summary of the predicted environmental effects associated with shale oil and gas extraction, coalbed methane production, a hypothetical pilot project and the preferred policy position. The predicted effects take into account the operation of existing regulatory controls, where appropriate, but do not take account of additional mitigation measures which are not statutorily required.

14.2 The development of unconventional oil and gas for shale oil and gas extraction at the levels described under the three KPMG scenarios is predicted to result in negative environmental effects for all SEA topic areas. Significant negative environmental effects are predicted for air, water, climate, biodiversity, cultural heritage, landscapes and population and human health. For some aspects of the environment there are greater risks associated with the development of unconventional oil and gas, reflecting a combination of the likely scale of development, the significance of potential environmental effects and the possibility of accidental or unplanned events.

14.3 The development of CBM typically results in lower levels of environmental effects than described for the KPMG shale oil and gas scenarios, reflecting the smaller scale and extent of extraction, and differences in the nature of some of the environmental effects. Significant negative effects are identified for water quality, biodiversity and population and human health and safety, although these effects are recognised as less extensive than those for shale oil and gas extraction.

14.4 The development of a single pilot project in a rural, semi urban or urban fringe location would also be likely to result in lower levels of environmental effect, again reflecting the smaller scale and extent of extraction. The assessment indicated that the pattern of potential effects is likely to depend on the location in question.

14.5 The preferred policy position means that adverse environmental effects across all SEA topic areas are avoided. Many of these adverse impacts would be significant. The assessment therefore predicts that the preferred policy position would result in minor or significant positive effects across all SEA topic areas.

14.6 Considerable uncertainty applies to these findings, reflecting a lack of firm information on the scale and location of unconventional soil and gas development in Scotland and on the scale of development that would have taken place in the absence of the preferred policy position, effects on oil and gas prices and wider patterns of production and use, and the extent to which additional mitigation measures could be successfully implemented.

Table 14.1: Summary of environmental effects

SEA topic	Impact type	Business as usual – shale oil and gas extraction	Business as usual – coal bed methane	Pilot project	Preferred policy position - significance of environmental effects avoided
Air	Fugitive emissions to air	Significant negative	Minor negative	Negligible	Significant positive
Air	Construction and site traffic emissions	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Air	Cumulative	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Water	Direct water pollution	Significant negative	Significant negative	Significant negative	Significant positive
Water	Water abstraction and supply, and indirect water pollution from abstraction	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Water	Cumulative effects	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Soil	Ground contamination	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Soil	Soil sealing	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Soil	Cumulative	None	None	None	None
Climatic factors	Controlled and uncontrolled release of produced gas	Significant negative	Minor negative	Negligible	Significant positive
Climatic factors	Combustion of gas or fossil fuels for on-site power and for transportation	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Climatic factors	Greenhouse gas emissions associated with land use change	Significant negative	Minor negative	Negligible	Significant positive
Climatic factors	Greenhouse gas emissions from processing and use of unconventional oil and gas products	Significant negative	Minor negative	Negligible	Significant positive
Climatic factors	Cumulative	Significant negative	Minor negative	Negligible	Significant positive
Biodiversity, flora and fauna	Habitat loss and fragmentation	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Biodiversity, flora and fauna	Disturbance	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Biodiversity, flora and fauna	Hazardous materials, INNS, hydrology impacts	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Biodiversity, flora and fauna	Climate change impacts on habitats and species	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Cultural and archaeological heritage	Loss and or damage of known and unknown archaeology, and other designated and undesignated historic assets	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor positive
Cultural and archaeological heritage	Impacts on setting of cultural heritage	Significant negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Significant positive
Cultural and archaeological heritage	Cumulative effects	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Landscapes and geodiversity	Landscape and visual effects	Significant negative	Negligible	Negligible	Significant positive
Landscapes and geodiversity	Cumulative landscape and visual effects	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Material assets	Land use change	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor positive
Material assets	Impacts on infrastructure	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Material assets	Cumulative	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Population and human health	Noise	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Population and human health	Light pollution	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Population and human health	Odour nuisance	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Population and human health	Felt seismic activity	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Population and human health	Amenity, mental wellbeing, recreation and physical activity	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor negative	Minor positive
Population and human health	Physical health and safety	Significant negative	Significant negative	Significant negative	Significant positive
Population and human health	Road accidents	Minor negative	Negligible	Negligible	Minor positive
Population and human health	Cumulative	Significant negative	None	None	Significant positive

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14 Summary of environmental effects

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