Professor Robert Howarth:

On the science question, I understand methane continues to evolve day by day. From the first decade of this century, methane emissions were steady globally. Methane concentrations in the atmosphere were steady. However, over the past decade, methane emissions have been rising very rapidly. Of course, we have had the warmest years ever in the history of human civilisation over this past decade and methane emissions are a definite contributor to that. As for what is driving those methane increases over the past decade, as I stated, my research suggests that shale gas from the United States is responsible for one third of those global increases. There are other things going on as well but as we in the United States understand that more, there will be a lot of pressure to decrease our reliance on shale gas.

The economics of shale gas have never worked. It is a new industry and a new approach, which is built on huge debt. No one in the United States has made any profit from selling this commodity over the past four or five years. They are hoping to hold on in the hope that the price will eventually go up. People, including people in Ireland, should think about what that means if they want to tie their fate to a source of gas in this country.

Here in New York State, our governor signed a law this summer committing us to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 40% within the next ten years. We are committed to doing that and we believe we can do it with renewable energy. If we in New York State can do it, I am sure the people of Ireland can do it.

I agree totally with my colleague that Ireland has potential to develop offshore wind and support that and the related energy storage which will be required to make renewables really work. That is the way I would go.

I might also add that the United States has a limited history of exporting natural gas as liquefied natural gas. This is new for us. In fact, until a few years ago, it was illegal for the oil and gas industry in the United States to export gas because we were worried about our own energy security. That has changed over the past four or five years. We have a glut of gas on the market in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. That is part of the reason that policy has changed. As the shale gas revolution continues to fizzle out, we can expect the oversupply to diminish and I can imagine that the United States will again look out for its own energy security.

It is dangerous to assume that our country will continue to export LNG ten or 20 years into the future. I would be very surprised if that were the case.