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UCG campaigners will form human chain across Forth road bridge

UCG campaigners will form human chain across Forth road bridge

Hundreds of campaigners are to form a human chain across the Forth Road Bridge in a mass protest against underground coal gasification.

Opponents fear UCG could pose the threat of environmental disaster if it is permitted under the Firth of Forth.

Their dramatic demonstration next month will demand a Scottish Government moratorium is extended to the controversial means of burning coal under the sea bed.

Ultimately, organisers of Hands Off Our Forth want an all-out ban on UCG.

Anti-fracking and unconventional gas extraction (UCE) groups from across the central belt, including Frack Off Fife, will be involved in the action.

They have appealed to people from across Scotland who are concerned about UCG to join them and link hands across the bridge.

It is estimated around 1800 people will be needed to stretch from the North Queensferry side to the South Queensferry side.

The demonstration will take place at 2pm on October 11, four days before the SNP conference.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has been urged not to be tempted by “short-sighted” plans to burn millions of tonnes of coal in the Firth of Forth.

The call by the Scottish Greens follows a report which claimed underground coal gasification (UCG) at Kincardine would generate £603 million for the economy and create more than 1,000 jobs.

Green MSP Alison Johnstone said the process would damage the environment while generating big profits for the companies involved.

She added that the proposal was in the interests of private stakeholders rather than the Scottish people.

The report commissioned by Cluff Natural Resources (CNR), which holds UCG licences for Kincardine, Largo Bay and Dysart, stated that 45% of the income would be retained in Scotland.

Fife Labour MSP Claire Baker said: “It is hardly surprising that a report commissioned by Cluff Natural Resources has come to these conclusions.”

“However, the report fails to consider the very real environmental impact of UCG under the sea in Fife.”

Alison Johnstone agreed, adding: “We must not be tempted by the short-sighted and damaging proposals that fossil fuel companies are putting forward on underground coal gasification.

“We know that these companies will make big profits from driving climate change and exploiting the land under our communities.”

Independent economic consultancy Biggar Economics, which conducted the research commissioned by Cluff, said the UCG industry could create up to 11,900 jobs across the UK, almost 5,000 of them in Scotland.