Horizon: Fracking - the New Energy Rush, BBC Two, review - Telegraph Even the explanatory science, which ought to have been manageable enough, fell short of being truly enlightening. Fracking - or "hydraulic fracturing," to give it its Sunday-best name - is the practice of drilling down into hard shale rock, and then pumping huge quantities of water, sand and chemicals down the hole, to fracture the surrounding rock. The resulting fissures allow natural gas trapped in the rock to escape, through the bore-hole. But these paucities of explanation were mere trifles, compared to the lengthy and questionable segments on the apparent risks of fracking. Stewart addressed the possible pollution of drinking water, and met Robert Jackson of Duke University. Although methane can occur naturally in drinking water, Jackson has discovered a much greater probability of contamination in wells near fracking sites. No hard proof, then, but a bit worrying. What Stewart didn't do was to then ask how this might affect UK water supplies. He didn't ask how many people in the UK - compared to the massively more vast USA - are so remote as to get their drinking water from wells. He also didn't report whether the treatment that mains water gets in the UK would remove any such contaminants. The most powerfully worrying section of the programme, though, was Stewart's interview with Dr Amy Paré, an American plastic surgeon. Dr Paré explained that each US oil company keeps its mix of fracking chemicals a closely-guarded trade-secret. They will only tell her what combination is used in a given locality if she signs a stringent confidentiality agreement. Which places her in a Catch-22: either she doesn't know what chemicals her patients might have been exposed to, or she does know but can't tell them. Stewart followed that interview with a touching monologue about his search for truth as an academic, and his attendant frustration about the oil companies' secrecy. Then he went on with the rest of the programme. What he didn't do, until fully seven minutes later, was to mention - almost in passing - that in the UK, oil companies will be required to disclose what's in their fracking fluid. In other words, that the Paré interview had precisely no relevance whatsoever for a UK audience. Right at the end, Stewart reached the one problem that has already caused genuine concern in the UK. The first frack here, in 2011, caused an earthquake. But, said Stewart, it was a minor one, and just like any of the 300 a year that are already caused by mining. No need, apparently, for any investigation at all - unlike the uniquely American problem earlier on. By the time the programme finished, I was watching open-mouthed with vexation at being spun such a succession of lines. More importantly, I felt none the wiser about what fracking is - or what risks it might have in the UK.