Despite the efforts to achieve rapid energy independence from Russia, Economics Minister Robert Habeck has reiterated his opposition to fracking in Germany.
“In the North German Plain we are sitting on a large amount of gas that can only be accessed with fracking.
So you would have to destroy deep layers of rock with great pressure and chemical substances in order to extract the gas, ”the Green politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“This is difficult under water law because it can have negative consequences for our environment.
At the moment there are no companies that want that either.”
In addition, it would “take years to pull up new funding and get the approval procedures right”.
The conventional funding fields in Germany are "largely exhausted," added the Vice Chancellor.
"It would help to increase production in the short term - with the consequence that you end up getting out earlier.
But we cannot solve our problems with that.”
Do not turn off the Russian gas tap immediately
Habeck warned urgently against an import stop of Russian gas.
"An immediate gas embargo would endanger social peace in Germany," he said.
"So we have to act prudently, prepare the steps carefully and be able to stick with them if we want to harm Putin."
Because of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Germany wants to become more independent of supplies from Russia as quickly as possible.
Söder for fracking
In this context, Bavaria's Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Söder suggested enabling fracking.
"We must not completely rule out oil and gas production from existing capacities in Germany," he said just under a week ago.
Germany needs the widest possible replacement capacity for Russian gas.
“We have to be open-minded about what is possible and what makes sense.
Bans could be lifted.”
Habeck replied that the necessary permits would take a long time and would not help in the acute situation.
In addition, the federal government wants to move away from natural gas and towards renewable energies and hydrogen as quickly as possible.
He is currently not aware of any application for fracking in Germany - neither for test drilling nor for actual funding.
In so-called unconventional fracking, water mixed with chemicals is pressed into shale rock under high pressure and the rock is broken up over a large area in order to extract gas or oil.
Environmentalists strictly reject the method because they fear that water will be polluted, earthquakes will occur or the greenhouse gas methane will escape uncontrolled.
Fracking is largely banned in Germany, but projects can be approved for research purposes.