Andy Rowell

YouTube’s reputation as a bastion of internet freedom has taken a battering over the last few days as it has twice censored anti-oil videos.

As protests against fracking in the UK continue, the Netherlands is the latest European country to signal that it is set to press ahead with the controversial technique.

According to a leaked powerpoint from the Environmental Protection Agency, fracking has caused “significant damage” to drinking water aquifers in the town of Dimock in Pennsylvania in the US.

Experts are warning that due to the methane leakages rates from fracking, it could be worse for the climate than burning coal

The hype surrounding methane hydrates continues to gather apace.

The barricades have been drawn. On the one side stands one of Britain’s leading unconventional energy companies, Cuadrilla. On the other side stands the rural village of Balcombe in the rolling hills of rural Sussex.