Monday 27 July 2015

UK - Fracking contamination - risk management (sic).

Just why does the UK think it's experience will be any different from that in the US other than - worse, given the density of population/conurbations?

Read the article here: http://www.endsreport.com/41374/managing-contamination-risks

Monday 20 July 2015

Netherlands - No shale gas exploitation before 2020.

  http://lenergeek.com/2015/07/13/pays-bas-pas-dexploitation-commerciale-des-gaz-de-schiste-avant-2020/

UK Shale Gas revolution stalled/falls flat despite Prime Minister's promise of tax breaks

Progress on fracking ‘glacially slow’ despite backing from prime minister and promise of generous tax break.

What on earth can have happened we hear you cry?  Read the full report here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/19/uk-shale-gas-revolution-falls-flat-just-11-new-wells-planned-2015

We know what happened. Ed. 

Thursday 9 July 2015

Major oil and gas company 'discover' man-made climate change in 1981. And sit on the fact.


Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years

A newly unearthed missive from Lenny Bernstein, a climate expert with the oil firm for 30 years, shows concerns over high presence of carbon dioxide in enormous gas field in south-east Asia factored into decision not to tap it.

Read the article from todays Guardian newspaper here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/08/exxon-climate-change-1981-climate-denier-funding


Tuesday 7 July 2015

US - Secrecy over fracking chemicals clouds environmental risks, advocates say

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/05/fracking-injection-chemicals-drinking-water-transparency?CMP=share_btn_linkThe fracking industry must be compelled to provide far more detailed information to regulators if the public is to be accurately informed of any risks to the environment, advocacy groups say.
A report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month found that hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas can lead, and has led, to the contamination of drinking water. It was the first time the federal government had admitted such a link.

Read the full report via The Guardian ( where else! ) here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/05/fracking-injection-chemicals-drinking-water-transparency?CMP=share_btn_link

Monday 6 July 2015

France - Sailor speaks out in favour of fracking.

Maud Fontenoy ( sailor ) speaks out here in favour of fracking in France.................

http://www.legazdeschiste.fr/debat-et-reglementation/01072015,gaz-de-schiste-en-france-maud-fontenoy-est-pour,1231.html

Report in French, but suggest copy and paste directly into Google Translator for 90% conversion to English.

Thursday 2 July 2015

UK - DEFRA report now published in full.

The report that the UK Gobvernment did not want you to see.


Hydraulic Fracking Protest in England
People that live near fracking sites could be affected by health problems and financial hardships – and fracking might not even help climate change –  a government report has revealed.
The report – which was initially heavily redacted but has now been fully published after the Information Commissioner ordered the government to do so  – includes striking passages that were previously blacked out on the risks of living near a fracking well, most dramatically that:
“Properties located within a 1 – 5 mile radius of the fracking operation may also incur an additional cost of insurance to cover losses in case of explosion on the site.”
“Such an event would clearly have social impacts,” some genius notes.
There are also several other health impacts and financial impacts on local rural communities that have been detailed — and are now revealed.
On climate change, the report says that fracking in the UK could cause a gross increase in global CO2 emissions if the LNG or other fossil fuels that would otherwise be burnt in the UK are burnt elsewhere — and we are still emitting from burning fracking gas.
Energydesk put in the Freedom of Information request for the report last summer, and repeatedly asked Defra to fill in the blacked-out blanks in the back-end last year.
We’ve finally been able to properly scour the report — and here’s what’s come to light:
Health: Water, noise, light and air pollution
People could experience the consequences of surface water contamination from fracking — not from drinking water but “it can affect human health indirectly through consumption of contaminated wildlife, livestock, or agricultural products”.
Noise and light pollution from rigs could also lead to problems, the internal Defra report acknowledges. It says: “Some residents may experience deafening noise; light pollution that affects sleeping patterns.”
“Noxious odours from venting gases can also impact on air quality for local residents,” it adds.
Truck movements to and from the site – about 14 to 51 journeys a day over a period of weeks – could also impact air pollution and noise.
And if you have resulting health problems you might find your local services stretched with the additional demand from the influx of fracking workers.
The report says that it’s unclear whether the extra funding given to communities “will be sufficient to meet the additional demand if new schools or hospitals are needed to ensure service provision for existing rural communities is maintained”.
Money: Housing and jobs
So, your house might be worth up to 7% less if you live within a mile of a fracking site (though other estimates say 10% or even up to 70% of the value could be wiped off) — and you might have to pay more for your house insurance in case of an explosion on site.
And if you rent, rent prices are expected to rise as new workers come into the area.
Fracking is also a mixed bag for local economies — short term benefits belie costs in terms of industries including “agriculture, tourism, organic farming, hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.”
The report also highlights concerns about what happens to local economies after the frackers leave.
In case local people were thinking of working in the fracking industry, there is also uncertainty over “how sustainable the shale gas investments will be in the future and whether rural communities have the right mix of skills to take advantage of the new jobs and wider benefits on offer”.
Regulatory uncertainty
And at a time of deep cuts to DECC, the Environment Agency and HSE – the people responsible for regulating the fracking industry – it is tricky that the report recommends that “regulatory capacity may need to be increased”.
A Defra statement said: “This document was drawn up as a draft internal discussion paper – it is not analytically robust, has not been peer-reviewed and remains incomplete.
“It does not contain any new data or evidence, and many of the conclusions amount to unsubstantiated conjecture, which do not represent the views of officials or ministers.”

Wednesday 1 July 2015

The ways in which we are all being 'fracked' now.

From an excellent article in The Guardian today explaining just how well the 'F' word describes the ways in which we are all being screwed, squeezed and yes....fracked.


'Friends of Conservatism (as opposed to Conservation ), on the other hand, are the ones who roll up on heavy machinery like a pissed Ukrainian militia. The ones who drill deep beneath that area of local countryside whose only “use” so far has been as a picnic site. And who then pump into the ground powerful jets of high-pressure hydrogunk, splintering rock as easily as a walnut. And who, having sucked up a sky’s worth of valuable gas through a massive crack pipe, then pack up and lumber off to fracture and steal someone else’s underground treasure'.


More on this here: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/30/fracketeering-capitalism-power-hosing-estate-agents-cakeage