Fracking in Deutschland — eine Option für die Zukunft!

Extraction of shale gas in Germany (fracking) is better left as an option for the future. Today, owners of deposits in many other countries have uncertain property rights and extract too quickly. German deposits may appreciate in value if left in the ground. They also better contribute to national energy security there than if extracted and depleted. Waiting also allows Germany to learn from the mistakes of others and to take this new information and the improvements in extraction technology into account when deciding about extraction in the future. Such decisions should not be left to the resource extraction industries. Their objectives are likely to differ from the objective of maximising the rent from the nation’s shale gas. Copyright ZBW and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014