Is fracking in Germany a way of becoming independent of Russian gas? The sharp rise in energy prices has shaken many a taboo. But the Southwest CDU braces itself against it.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Despite the energy crisis, Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl is strictly against the production of natural gas using fracking technology in Germany. “Fracking will definitely not do us any good for this winter or for the next, for that matter,” said the CDU state chief of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. First of all, the legal requirements would have to be created and then test drilling would be necessary. “I would say it will take years before the first gas comes along.” The discussion about fracking, which is mainly led by the FDP, is therefore irrelevant. “This is really a proposal that leads to nirvana,” said Strobl.
The CDU politician reproached the south-west liberals for advocating fracking to the detriment of Baden-Württemberg. “Because the possible gas deposits are mainly in the north-east of Lake Constance. But the drinking water for four million people comes from Lake Constance.” He is glad that the lake is there to supply people with drinking water. “Endangering that is definitely out of the question,” said Strobl. “Lake Constance is absolutely taboo. Hands off Lake Constance. The FDP’s proposal is clueless and dangerous.”
Most recently, experts and above all FDP politicians had recommended using fracking gas in the shale rock because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Most recently, Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer had spoken out in favor of it. “Domestic fracking gas would be a way to reduce dependence on Russia and also on the world market,” said the CDU politician. Fracking uses pressure and chemicals to extract gas or oil from rock layers, which poses environmental hazards. There is also criticism that the gas has to be greatly cooled during liquefaction, which, according to environmentalists, costs up to 25 percent of the energy content of the gas.
