The decision reached by North Yorkshire County Council on 23 May to allow fracking to be restarted in the UK has been welcomed by the chemical industry.

Speaking after the announcement by the County Council, Steve Elliott, Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association, said "This is an important decision and I think the County Council have shown leadership to the rest of the country. The evidence and submissions have been closely examined and conclusions drawn.  We believe these are the right conclusions.

It is now more important than ever that, as the process begins, those of us in favour of shale gas continue the dialogue with local communities and those who are opposed. This decision should not mean the end of transparent discussion and debate but what we need now is a measured dialogue that respects the democratic decision taken by the County Council and focuses on delivering the benefits that shale gas can bring to local communities and the UK as a whole, alongside reassurance to the public over safety, health and environmental standards".

Elliott continued "The extraction of shale gas in our country will help ensure that the UK becomes increasingly self-reliant on its future energy needs, reducing the volatility of our energy bills that many of us have experienced in recent years.  Shale will also provide an essential transition to a lower carbon economy where many energy sources, including renewables and nuclear, will play their part.  There will also be social benefits, through securing existing and creating new jobs - delivering spending power at the local community level.  For industries like chemicals, located in the industrial heartlands across the UK, access to domestic shale gas is a key driver to future investment  - making our energy supply and costs more stable and predictable and making our products more competitive and attractive to our customers.  I hope and believe the decision taken in North Yorkshire will signal the start of an energy revolution that not only benefits the country's chemical industry but all of us as UK citizens."

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The chemical and pharmaceutical industry adds £15 billion of value to the UK economy every year from total annual turnover of around £50 billion.

The UK is a leading global chemical and pharmaceutical producer.

The chemical and pharmaceutical sector is the UK's largest manufacturing exporter with annual exports of close to £50 billion.

UK Chemical manufacturing productivity, as measured by output per hour worked, increased by 10% between 2008 and 2014, in contrast productivity increased by 2.5% in UK services sectors and increased by 5% for the whole of manufacturing in the same period

The products and technologies made by the chemical industry enable twice the energy saving compared to that used in their production.