FFS hurry up and start fracking - or shall we just import fracked energy?

Nearly 2m homes in the UK will be heated by shale gas from the US within two years, under a deal agreed on Monday that is likely to be the first time major exports of the controversial energy source are used in the UK.

The US government has kept a tight rein on exports since the shale gas boom started more than five years ago. But the deal struck by energy company Centrica marks the start of a new era in gas use in the UK, because it opens up the market to cheap supplies from the US, as North Sea gas fields run out and pipelines to Europe remain expensive.