Perceptions of shale gas fracking in host communities in the UK: towards an integrated perspective

The UK Westminster government has offered strong policy support in recent years for unconventional oil and gas exploitation as a bridging technology in transitions to low-carbon energy systems despite opposition by many communities on the grounds of environmental, health and social risks. Exploring reasons behind attitudes towards fracking, growing research suggests the need to move beyond knowledge of technological facts and beliefs about impacts and pay closer attention to people’s connection with place. Meanwhile, as social licence to operate remains problematic, questions of trust, fairness and justice have become imperative, especially after the Government overturned Lancashire County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for one site. In the face of a changing energy landscape in the UK, the paper suggests that unravelling a community’s attitudes towards complex and controversial energy developments requires a holistic approach which identifies perceptions of: (i) the technology in question and impacts; (ii) place effects through place attachment and identity; (iii) trustworthiness of stakeholders involved, and environmental and energy justice associated with effective local engagement, transparent decision-making, and fair distribution of risks and benefits. This paper reports on research using a a mixed-methods approach, of people’s attitudes and perceptions of shale gas fracking in Lancashire and Yorkshire. How these factors interrelate are explored to produce an integrated heuristic perspective of how people, place and process interact within community evaluations of hydraulic fracturing. The paper concludes by stressing the importance of integrative research that combines technology-, place- and justice-related perspectives in furthering understandings of the power relations and contested politics of socio-technical energy transitions.