Oil and gas wells, including those involved in hydraulic fracturing operations, scar a major portion of southwest Wyoming, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Nearly 17,000 well pads and former drilling areas associated with oil and natural gas production were
As fracking amongst Marcellus Shale in the northeastern part of the United States increases so does the concern over its process. Fracking is done utilizing a hydraulic fracturing process, which pumps a high-pressure mixture of water, chemicals and sand deep into the sedimentary formations to extract naturally occurring gas. The resultant
Most Americans are uninformed and lack opinions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used to extract oil and gas from rock formations, a new survey says.
Fifty-eight percent of people surveyed specifically reported that they knew nothing at all about
I reported previously here on Cleantechies that in 2011 France was the first country to ban hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of recovering oil and natural gas deposits using large quantities of water and chemicals and sand.
Fracking, as it is more widely known, is fiercely
Extraction of natural gas from the deep soil in a region of the Netherlands has triggered an increase in minor earthquakes, similar to seismic effects that have raised concerns about drilling operations, including hydraulic fracturing, in other countries.
While the extraction of gas has occurred for decades
A U.S.-based company has developed a sophisticated sensing technology capable of detecting and pinpointing the source of even minor natural gas leaks from great distances, an innovation that could provide critical insights into the still largely unknown climate
Several university-led studies that have downplayed concerns about the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing have been funded in part by drilling companies themselves, Bloomberg News reports.
Bloomberg cited, for example, a 2009 report published by Pennsylvania State University predicting
A surge in natural gas supplies worldwide could halt any meaningful growth in the renewable energy sector over the next two decades if governments don’t take action, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns.
New technologies to extract natural gas, primarily
A new study estimates that fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region can migrate into underground drinking water supplies far more quickly than experts have previously estimated.
The study, based on computer modeling and funded
A planned shale gas drilling project in New York state would utilize a waterless form of hydraulic fracturing, a new technique designed to reduce the potential pollution associated with the controversial natural gas drilling process.
Rather than using typical hydraulic fracturing
A new study says that methane leaks from natural gas drilling, particularly hydraulic fracturing, are likely higher than previously estimated and concludes that converting vehicles from gasoline to compressed natural gas will actually produce more greenhouse gas emissions unless methane leaks are significantly reduced.
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson says that a drilling method that has made vast natural gas resources accessible across the U.S. has been unable to crack some shale rock formations in Europe and China.
Speaking to energy analysts, Tillerson said two attempts to tap gas-rich shale fields in Poland through
A U.S. Energy Department advisory panel has issued a qualified endorsement of the controversial shale gas exploitation technique of hydraulic fracturing, but a group of scientists charges that the panel’s recommendations are tainted because six of its seven members have current financial ties to the
Last week the French government was the first to enact a law forbidding hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”.
This technology enables to recover shale gas via the use of massive amounts of water and chemicals. The former remaining afterward polluted, hence the controversy.
The law had been discussed by both the lower and upper chambers since March before being finally enacted on June 30th by the Senate with 176 votes in favor and 151 against.
It is noteworthy that the senators who voted against the law believed it wasn’t going far enough. Indeed, as Scientific American notes, the vote doesn’t not ban other methods to recover shale gas.
As you can surely imagine, large energy companies like the French oil giant Total are “deploring” this. Indeed, as the website Natural Gas for Europe notes :
” French shale oil and gas fields are potentially some of the most promising in Europe but remain “largely” unknown due to a lack of exploration, and the potential commercial viability of the fields is also unknown because of a lack of tests. “
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey took a similar decision. The vote there was massively against as the Senate voted 33 against and only one for.
This occurs as the State of New York in the United States is preparing to lift a moratorium on the same method.
To conclude, I would like to give my personal opinion as I believe all countries should follow the lead.
Indeed, finding more oil and gas is only pursuing the headlong rush, and postponing the inevitable. We need to get out of oil, gas and coal, not finding more sources. Fossil fuels are already massively polluting, finding new ways to extract them will be even more polluting. It is high time we work on energy efficiency and low carbon energy sources…
Image credit : Flickr, animoore