China desperately wants to boost its natural gas supplies to help alleviate its dependence on coal and the smog that energy source spews out, but it’s finding that task devilishly difficult.

Britain’s fledgling shale gas industry is struggling to get off the ground, plagued by regulatory delays and geologic hurdles. The US shale experience has proved devilishly difficult to replicate, but after Putin’s aggression in Crimea, there’s never been a better time for Europe to frack.