Fracking should not be considered in water-scarce areas like the Karoo, says UK special representative on climate change Sir David King.

David said the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and water contaminated with radioactive particles and chemicals, which pollute groundwater, create too much risk for water-stressed areas, Business Day reported.

South Africa’s shale reserves, concentrated in the Karoo, could be the world’s eighth-biggest.

While fracking has the potential to unlock massive new supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale, it also poses a threat to the area’s water. Wessa conservation director Garth Barnes says any pollution or degradation, particularly in the Karoo, could cause disastrous ecological, social and economic consequences.

Because fracking uses huge volumes of water, concern has been raised that fracking, coupled with the country’s recent water shortages, could further stress water supplies and could pose serious problems at a local and regional level.

However, Frost and Sullivan energy and power Africa unit leader Cornelis van der Waal told Business Day that shale gas in the Karoo could give South Africa energy independence, freeing it from coal and expensive imported crude, and that South Africa needs to find a solution to the difficulties of fracking for gas in the Karoo.

Government is expected to publish final regulations for fracking next month.