Coal Seam Gas Inquiry Report - NSW Parliament - May 2012

Coal seam mining in Qld

The NSW Parliament's Inquiry into Coal Seam Gas Mining in NSW released its' report this week and there are a few surprises contained in the 35 recommendations and findings in the 300 page document. While the Legislative Council committee (bipartisan in composition with members of the Liberal, Labor, Greens and other parties) did support the concept and need for coal seam mining, there was clear recognition of the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework and the urgent need for one to be implemented. Amongst the other recommendations: conduct regional-scale water assessments in NSW as a matter of priority; no new production licences be issued until a  regulatory framework exists; the current ban on the use of 'fracking' be maintained until NICNAS (the Federal Government's chemical registration scheme) has carried out an evaluation of the chemicals used; greater legal rights and access control for landholders; stronger controls and accountability for coal seam mining companies including site remediation; the establishment of a Petroleum Ombudsman, a Complaints Hotline and greater regulatory controls for the Environmental Protection Authority and the portfolio Department.

The Inquiry was particularly critical of of the lack of genuine community engagement noting that "community consultation appears to have been inconsistent, poorly timed and restrictive,.."The Inquiry also stated "that it cannot dismiss evidence that some operators have attempted to pressure landholders for access nor the possibility that companies may force access in the future.." In a damning indictment, the Inquiry found that a previously dismissed incident of the pollution of Pilliga Forest by Eastern Star Gas was, in fact, proven correct. Coal seam gas arguably is one of the most unknown mining methods with potentially enormous risks to both the environment and access to water for the community. With drilling occuring within Sydney's own aquifer system, the implementation of this report is an urgent priority.

The full report can be found at this link: http://bit.ly/IiFlfl

Climate change fatigue - community interest wanes

New research to be released in early May 2012 from the Melbourne Business School and the University of Technology, Sydney will show that climate change is no longer listed amongst the top concerns of the general community in Australia. The survey of 1500 adults who completed questionnaires in Australia were compared against similar cohorts in parallel studies in the US, UK and Germany indicating the key concerns were food, health, crime and safety and access to public services. This reflects a major change from surveys in 2007 when industrial pollution, renewable energy, climate change and environmental sustainability were ranked at the top of global issues. The survey shows that the focus for most people has returned to the regular concerns and issues which routinely rank in opinion polling. Of particular interest is the disengagement with party politics which correlates to climate change fatigue - after the carbon tax and ETS debate, Australians wish to simply get on with their lives.

Coal Seam Gas and water impact

Condomine River - water contamination has been detected at this site

One of the key concerns with Coal Seam Gas (CSG) mining is the actual or potential impact on water within and adjacent to mining regions. Extraction of methane from coal seams relies on the extraction of large quantities of water, so across the industry, it may total between approx 30 and 90 gigalitres of groundwater per year. Impacts which are broadly understood include: the likely drawdown of aquifers; depressurisation of aquifers; risk  of groundwater contamination; risk of subsidence of the surface, and salt residing in the water of coal seams being brought to the surface - estimated to be a quantity of about 1.8 million tonnes of salt per year in Queensland alone. 

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.

Renewable energy - can it power up ?

Wind turbines have proven successful

The central question facing the wider application of renewable energy sources has been the capacity of the new technologies to provide reliable energy particularly base-load power generation which the old coal-fired stations currently do. Renewable energy includes wind turbines, solar photovoltaic, biofuelled gas turbines, and concentrated solar thermal (with thermal storage). The National Electricity Market which represents most of Australia's electricity needs, has a capacity of 40GW of generation to meet a peak load of 33 GW (over 90% of Australian electrical demand). Detractors of renewable energy (who are often climate change sceptics) have questioned how this method of intermittant supply could ever be relied upon to provide reliable, baseload power. However studies of Australian current and potential future renewable energy by the University of NSW can demonstrate that this objective can be achieved through a combination of wind (23.2GW), photovoltaic (14.3GW), concentrated solar thermal (15.6 GW), biofuelled gas turbines (24 GW) with varying amounts from hydro (around 7 GW). South Australia already produces well over 10% of electrical energy from wind alone. The option exists for a renewable energy future - it only requires the political will to do it.

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.

Remembering the Titanic -100 years on

The bow of Titanic

The 15th April 2012 marks 100 years to the day when the world's largest ship at the time, the passenger ship RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic after a collision with an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York.  On board the Titanic were 2,224 men, women and children of whom only 710 were finally rescued in the early morning of 15 April 1912 - there had been only enough lifeboats for 1,178 persons and these had not all been filled to capacity. The loss of the ship is one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters and led to International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).

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