15/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Shale gas - Germany wants to ban hydraulic fracturing in areas where water is abundant. The German Ministry for the Environment plans to present to the national parliament, the Bundestag, by end February, a draft law on hydraulic fracturing, which is a contested technique used to extract shale gas. According to the Ministry, the project, which is still subject to negotiation, would ban hydraulic fracturing in regions where there are abundant reserves of drinking water, and would impose severe restrictions in the other areas. On 1 February, the Bundesrat, which represents the regions/states of Germany, had called on the government to make it an obligation for environmental impact assessments to be carried out before resorting to hydraulic fracturing. (EH/transl.jl)