Coal seam gas mining - the unmentioned risks

Coal seam gas mining water pond

When the risks of coal seam gas (CSG) mining are cited, often inadequately, the focus quite correctly is on the use of fracking chemicals and the potential impact on hydrology and water aquifers. However there are other chemical risks, usually ignored, but which are also potentially high level and exceptionally toxic. These are the naturally occurring toxic substances in the geologic strata. Researchers from the University of NSW have pointed out that simply banning fracking chemicals is inadequate  as CSG activities could mobilise a range of other substances and compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) together with chromium, strontium, lead, iron, zinc arsenic, fluoride and selenium, plus potentially promoting bacterial growth. As highlighted in this publicly released research, naturally occurring substances in coal seams include trace elements such as mercury, arsenic, lead and in some location, radioisotopes such as radium, thorium and uranium in small non detectable deposits.

Through CSG mining, these elements can be released into the water system and travel into drinking aquifers and the wider water catchment systems on which both animals and people rely. This is situation which is barely covered in risk and mine management plans showing another large gap in the control of this mining process.

Geoengineering - the Royal Society's View

In 2009 The Royal Society released an authoritative and detailed report on geoengineering and its potential use in combatting climate change. Titled "Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty" the report cautioned against seeing geoengineering solutions as a magic bullet to solve climate change. This caution is warranted and little has changed in the past three years.

The report can be accessed here http://bit.ly/udIaKE

The media conference can be viewed below (please click)

Geoengineering in the ocean: a solution or not ?

The recent publication of a geoengineering trial using phytoplankton to remove carbon dixoide from the atmosphere again raises the question as to whether this course of action is either sensible or safe notwithstanding the difficulties in controlling CO2. The trial called Eifex was carried out in the Southern Ocean in 2004 and involved adding iron to the ocean in order to stimulate plankton to grow. In many ocean regions, iron is not plentiful so the theory operates on the basis that if iron was added, phytoplankton would grow and in turn remove carbon dioxide. The plankton then die and sink to the bottom of the ocean taking the CO2 with them. A similar trial called Lohaflex was run in 2009 but failed after causing an algae bloom instead so the idea was considered a failure. But how sensible is this solution of iron fertilisation ? And what impacts on other species and various oceans will this artifical intervention cause ? And why was there a delay in publishing the results of a 2004 trial in 2012 ?

Geoengineering is seldom as straighforward as it appears and risks are rarely fully understood.  

Coal Seam Gas - concerns from rural communities

Rural communities in Queensland and NSW, Australia continue to express their fears over the impacts, both existing and potential, of coal seam gas mining in agricultural and key environmental regions (produced by civil lobby/campaign organisation GetUp!).

Coal for power - what more do you need ?

Fossil fuel mining and consumption remains one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. An amusing parody of industry promotion in the United States -

Ocean Blue and Seagrass Green - carbon sink loss

Seagrass is also a habitat for small fish

When most people think of oxygen production and carbon storage, most of the time trees and forests are the first items that come to mind - but in fact the single greatest source of oxygen on the planet is the ocean. Similarly the ocean is the single greatest resource for carbon capture on the planet mainly through seagrass which is estimated to capture around 27.4 million tonnes of carbon each year. Unlike forests which only hold carbon for approximately 60 years, seagrass is holding carbon stored in the soil below it from the last ice age.

The startling results from research carried out on 946 seagrass meadows worldwide by the University of Western Australia has revealed that these critical resources are disappearing at a rate of 1.5% per annum due to water pollution, dredging for construction and effects of warmer temperatures due to climate change. This means that the carbon stored beneath the plants is being released back into the atmosphere and with an estimated 19.9 billion tonnes of carbon stored beneath seagrass, the scenario of a widespread release of carbon cannot be discounted. If large areas of seagrass die that is likely to be in excess of 299 million tonnes per year.