About 73% of South Africans were in favour of exploring whether natural gas was present in the Karoo and the same proportion would be in favour of gas extraction, a survey showed on Monday.
An opinion poll – conducted by market researcher Ipsos on behalf of Shell – found that most adult South Africans were unaware of the potential exploration for natural gas in the Karoo. But, when introduced to the concept, the majority were in favour of determining the presence of natural gas in the basin.
Ipsos polled 2 006 South Africans on exploration for natural gas, using face-to-face interviews, to allow the interviewers to describe, inform and question respondents on shale gas, the process of hydraulic fracturing, their views on Shell and their hopes for South Africa.
“Respondents clearly desire more information. They want to know if there is gas, how it will benefit them and what the impact will be,” Ipsos director of public affairs Mari Harris said.
Shell has applied for permission to explore for shale gas in the Karoo using hydraulic fracturing. The process involves forcing a mixture of 99% water and sand, with 1% chemicals into shale formations deep underground to release natural gas.
The Treasure the Karoo Action Group believes that hydraulic fracturing would harm the environment.
The poll found 86% of South Africans were unaware of the possible exploration for natural gas in the Karoo and only 12% indicated that they had heard the term ‘hydraulic fracturing’ before.
Awareness by word of mouth is higher among Karoo residents than among those living in other parts of the country, an indication of the greater relevance of shale gas exploration and hydraulic fracturing for people living in this area.
However, in spite of the very low awareness, when asked, more than seven in every ten adult South Africans, or 73% were in favour of determining the presence of natural gas in the Karoo. If natural gas were proven to be present in the Karoo, the same proportion of residents would be in favour of gas extraction.
However, if shale gas was found, the proportion of those who were strongly in favour for extraction increased from 39%, to 45%, while the proportion of those in opposition decreased to 21%, with a group of 6% now uncertain as to how they feel about the issue.
After the ideas of supporters of hydraulic fracturing were presented, about seven in every ten, or 69% adult South Africans indicated that they were still in favour of gas exploration. After hearing views expressed by critics of the hydraulic fracturing process, the support for gas exploration reduced marginally to about 66% of the population.
The study highlighted that job security and job creation remain very important issues in South Africa and 54% indicated that they would like more information on how gas exploration will benefit economic development and create jobs.
Regarding infrastructure development, four out of every ten, or 39% want information about how it will improve the supply of and access to electricity.
More information about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing was important to 41% and a third would like to know how clean burning natural gas would be.
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Article source: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-africans-keen-to-find-out-more-about-karoo-gas-potential-survey-2012-02-20