Monday, 30 April 2012
Climate change fatigue - community interest wanes
Coal Seam Gas and water impact
Condomine River - water contamination has been detected at this site |
Water contamination can occur in several ways - through the injection of chemicals via 'fracking'; or through chemicals that naturally exist in coal seams, being taken out and being exposed to other parts of the environment:; and potentially just from the removal of large quantities of water from aquifers or coal seams. A lateral flow of water and aquifers for example can be extremely damaging - aquifers actually differ in their water quality throughout their extent, so a lateral flow by itself can lead to changes in water quality including contamination from natural as well as introduced chemicals and substances.
Methane leaking into surrounding aquifers can occur naturally when there's a
close connection between the coal seams and the surrounding aquifers but it can also occur if the wells that go from the surface down into the
coal seam are not properly sealed. This has occured in a number of sites in Queensland. A similar related risk is if the fracturing of a coal seam extends out of the initial mining zone, such as into the surrounding geological strata. This type of event has occured in the United States with detrimental outcomes. The geological and engineering science of coal seam gas extraction remains full of serious gaps of knowledge - protection of water quality is arguably the highest priority.
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Renewable energy - can it power up ?
Wind turbines have proven successful |
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Coal Seam Gas - to frack or not to frack ?
New research from the United States reporting that a steep rise in earthquakes across the central US
is likely to be man-made as a result of 'fracking' coal seam gas will do nothing to reassure Australians regarding the environmental safety of this method of gas extraction. The US Geological Survey found a sixfold increase in seismic activity was
particularly common in regions where waste water from fracking was injected
into deep wells. Similar findings were made in the United Kingdom last year, where experts found it ''highly probable'' that fracking was the
cause of 50 seismic events near Blackpool. This finding has been reaffirmed again this year, thus underlining the lack of sound research knowledge and information on this mining method.
CSG occurs in coal seams being predominantly methane
(CH4) but other gases may also be carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen. As water
usually saturates these seams, the CSG is extracted through the drilling of wells
into the coal, pumping the water out, thus releasing pressure to enable the
gas to be collected. Released gas is pushed by compressors to a central gas
processing facility then compressed/dried for transportation. CSG has risks for
negative environmental impact through:
- Large amounts of water by-product due to pumping from the coal seams and risk of arsenic contamination;
- The use of hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) in the production process (if the gas is tightly held) with possible effects on surface and ground water systems. Fracking uses carcinogenic/toxic BTEX group chemicals/fluids (ie benzene, toluene, etc).
- The potential leakage of methane gas during production and transportation (CH4 is a potent GHG gas if released).
CSG has alll the elements of a last ditch, desperate effort to locate new fossil fuel sources and should be seen in that light. It does not present a new safe form of energy nor at this time is it a safe intermediate energy source pending the uptake of greater renewable energy production.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Remembering the Titanic -100 years on
The bow of Titanic |
The Titanic has been the subject of books, documentaries, plays, readings, exhibitions and films including the better known ones "A Night to Remember" and "Titanic". The tragedy of Titanic's story is layered with irony, courage, compassion, duty and errors - Titanic had the latest design of the era with watertight compartments, remotely activated watertight doors and a powerful wireless telegraph yet the collision fatally compromised too many compartments; the Captain and most of the crew went down with the ship; the Titanic's band famously played on to the end and the evacuation order of women and children first, was followed by the ships officers. The Titanic rests 3,784 metres down and has been continuously visited by souvenir hunters and tourists since rediscovery in 1985. It should however remain undisturbed as a maritime memorial to those lost.
The Titanic in 1912 |
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