The Germans are undoubtedly sitting on a treasure trove: natural gas is bound up to a depth of five kilometers, in layers of slate, clay and marl and in coal seams. It could be raised using brute methods: fracking. A fluid consisting of water, granules and chemicals is injected into the rock strata at high pressure to blast the gas free. Environmentalists warn that groundwater could be poisoned and earthquakes triggered. Although the latest fracking technology works much more gently, it is by no means harmless.
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