Environmentalists strongly oppose shale-gas extraction due to fears that fracking may contaminate water supplies, the oil-sands industry because it is energy-intensive and dirty, and deep-water drilling because of the risk of oil spills like last year's Gulf of Mexico disaster.

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Still, the MIT report points out that shale-gas extraction uses less water than other industries, and indeed than other sources of energy.

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For BP Amoco's soft-spoken CEO, Sir John Browne, deep water offers the prospect of the largest untapped reserves and the lowest-cost means of extraction.

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He said based on projections allowing for increased settlement, water extraction and rising sea levels, the barrier was built to withstand a one-in-1, 000-year North Sea surge occurring by 2030.

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The Cotswold Water Park is on the Wiltshire-Gloucestershire border and is made up of 150 lakes which were created through gravel extraction.

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Anyone considering the use of MIW for natural gas extraction activities has the potential to incur long-term liability because just the act of moving contaminated water gives you total responsibility for it in the future.

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