Since 2017, the exploitation of gas deposits in shale and coal seam layers has been banned in Germany. The FDP wants to change this and is putting pressure on it. Finance Minister Lindner is certain that a large part of the need could be covered in this way.
In view of the energy crisis, Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner has once again advocated rapid entry into natural gas production in Germany using so-called fracking. "We have significant gas deposits in Germany that can be extracted without endangering drinking water," said the FDP chairman of the Funke media group. "The promotion is also responsible under ecological conditions."
Lindner demanded: "We have to approach the funding quickly". He is confident that Germany will be able to cover a relatively large demand from domestic gas sources in a few years. "It's advisable to do that when you look at the development in the world." It is irresponsible to refrain from fracking for ideological reasons, he added.
Fracking is a extraction method that uses pressure and liquids to extract gas or oil from rock strata, which poses environmental risks. However, some experts consider the method now used to be responsible. There is also criticism of liquefaction through strong cooling because, according to environmentalists, this costs up to 25 percent of the energy content of the gas.
Lindner has previously spoken out in favor of the funding method. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Minister Robert Habeck, on the other hand, reject getting into fracking. Scholz recently told the "Welt am Sonntag" that previous federal governments had examined these projects. "The resistance on the ground was so great that they never materialized." Fracking is not necessary in Germany either, the SPD politician continued.
Since 2017, the exploitation of gas deposits in slate and coal seam layers has been banned in Germany because this is considered a threat to the groundwater, among other things. The economy and the parties FDP, CDU/CSU and AfD have recently repeatedly called for this ban to be lifted.
