Download - Fracking - Oil Shale Gas vs Biogas
FRACKING: OIL SHALE GAS VS BIOGASCONSIDERING THE USE OF THE OIL SHALE ENERGY BOUNTY
Steve Last
http://anaerobic-digestion.com
F R A C K I N G :
O I L S H A L E G A S V S B I O G A S
Special Fracking Report: Oil
Shale Gas vs Biogas for
Renewable Energy
With much of the world once again (May
2012) teetering on recession, and a potential
energy bonanza sitting beneath our feet in
the form of vast oil shale gas reserves, dare
we use them, or not? Let’s make no mistake
about it a new era of cheap energy would get
world economies off the hook, and allow
many nations to claw their way back out of
austerity like nothing else can do on earth.
The engineering and technically minded
community owes it to the poor of the world to
consider oil shale use very carefully. Can it
be used without disastrous effects on the
environment or not?
In this special report we have set out to use
resources available on the web to compile a
report with contributions from a number of
authors on this subject. We then sum up our
view, and in the final special report section
we have some further information about our
preferred natural gas source.
Disclaimer
Reasonable care has been taken by the
authors to ensure that the information
presented in this book is accurate.
However, the reader by reading on any
further shall be deemed to have read and
accepted the following terms.
Terms of Use: No Liability: this book is
supplied “as is” and without liability. All
warranties, express or implied, are hereby
disclaimed. The information provided does
not constitute advice of any kind.
© 2012 by IPPTS Associates.
Introduction
Inside this report, you will learn:
What Is Fracking And Should
We Be Nervous About It: What
is fracking? It probably is a term new to
many people but it's definitely becoming a
popular topic in the media. Fracking is a
controversial process used to extract gas
from shale rock formations found
thousands of feet below the earth's crust.
The process involves drilling into the
surface of the earth and then triggering
small explosions to crack and shatter the
hard shale rock in order to release the gas
contained inside.
Fracking and Tar Sands :
Fracking is not a good thing if we're trying
to reduce global warming causes and
2Cover Image by InlandWest
impacts, unless all the carbon dioxide is
captured and stored by sequestration. We
provide a background on hydraulic
fracturing and its likely environmental
impacts.
The Bottom Line –
Is Fracking Really Safe?
In the last few years, with the increasing
demand for unique resources of energy,
scientists and big companies are turning
their heads and money on shale reserves,
sedimentary formations that seem tom hold
the future of energy: natural gas. With
recent turn of events and with the major
networks and independent film makers,
they take like on the technology called
fracking for oil. Don't be misled, this is not
the song. It has been highlighted in a
controversial documentary and now a lot of
buzz is directed towards this technology.
How is it good? What makes it ideal for
extraction? The biggest question would
have to be: is fracking for oil a safe
practice?
More Fracking Earthquakes -
New Report and Research on Oil
and Gas Fracking from UK
Our Think Tank has previously mentioned
the challenges with fracking and ground
water, and the potential earthquake issues.
Most of the problems can be easily
mitigated depending on the geological
make-up of the regions where such
resources are. There was a heavy hitting
article recently in the UK about fracking
stating it "may cause earthquakes" - well
like I said, not a revelation here.
Fracking - Is It Worth Risking Our
Water Supply:
Water is our most precious resource.
Without it, we would cease to exist. Out of
all the water on earth, only 2.5% is fresh
water and less than 1% is available for your
human consumption (since much of it is in
glacier form).
Now let’s get started with the reported articles
and the body of this report:
**********************
What
Is Fracking And Should We
Be Nervous About It
What is fracking? It probably is a term new
to many people but it's definitely becoming
a popular topic in the media. Fracking is a
controversial process used to extract gas
from shale rock formations found
thousands of feet below the earth's crust.
The process involves drilling into the
surface of the earth and then triggering
small explosions to crack and shatter the
hard shale rock in order to release the gas
contained inside. Sand, water and many
highly corrosive chemicals are forced into
the rock at high pressure allowing the gas
and crude oil to flow out before being
extracted by energy companies. The
process can be used to create new sources
of oil and gas or to enlarge existing
3
operations. The drilling can be carried out
vertically but horizontal drilling is more
common.
The name fracking comes from a longer
name for the process, hydraulic fracturing.
The rock is theoretically fractured and this
is often referred to as a 'frac job'.
The process is highly controversial mostly
due to the "unknown" as experts cannot
agree on just how dangerous the technique
is. A primary concern is that fracking uses
many carcinogenic chemicals and the fear
is that these chemicals may potentially find
their way into natural water sources and
pose a major threat to the users. Industry
experts however point out that drinking
water is generally found within a few
hundred feet of the surface whereas most
fracking is taking place several thousand
feet below the surface.
Left wing geologists have recently stated
that the fracking process was a probable
cause in the triggering of two minor
earthquakes off the English coast. The
energy industry obviously denies the
process is at fault and blames bad
practices as opposed to a bad technique.
The extraction of shale gas using fracking
is also being seen as a potential cause of
further global warming as shale gas is
found in many locations and is often seen
as a cheaper alternative to renewable
energy sources. The truth is that natural
gas has a much smaller carbon foot print
than either coal or oil so it's a great
solution for reducing pollution. Those who
fantasize about wind and solar replacing
fossil fuels have never done their research.
With current technology it's impossible for
alternatives to become the primary source
of energy. Additionally, no one ever talks
about the toxic ingredients that go into
manufacturing solar panels and the
batteries used to power electric cars
(another inconvenient truth).
Fracking is causing many heated debates
between concerned individuals and energy
companies. Currently energy companies are
looking into ways of creating longer and
deeper cracks in the earth allowing more
gas to be extracted. This will obviously
lower the extraction cost of the gas, this
has caused uproar among opponents and
environmentalists. In general the idea of
using these aggressive techniques will
always cause fear mongering and hand
wringing because of the unknown long-term
consequences.
Fracking is not likely to go away any time
soon as energy companies see it as a
cost-effective way of extracting more and
more natural gas. As new processes
continue to evolve concerns will continue to
linger and even grow. As we have said there
are always concerns over any new process
and they will either eventually diminish or
there will be a major disaster like the
opponents are predicting. Only time will
tell and as it is with most things we are
bound to continue to push the boundaries
until someone finds an issue.
Fracking has created a tremendous
resurgence in drilling activity in the U. S.
in areas such as the Bakken Oil Field which
has billions of barrels of oil which were
unrecoverable without it. These
4
developments along with the creation of the
Oil ETF has made oil investing a popular
trend in this past decade.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael
_R_Peterson
B. Fracking and Tar Sands
Introduction
Fracking is not a good thing if we're trying
to reduce global warming causes and
impacts. I provide a background on
hydraulic fracturing and environmental
impacts.
What is Hydraulic Fracturing or "Fracking"?
Hydraulic fracturing is the process of
creating fractures in rock with the purpose
of releasing a fluid under pressure. This
"fluid" is usually gas or petroleum as far as
the fossil fuel industry is concerned. These
fractures also occur naturally as in the case
of "veins" or "dikes", where magma from
deep within the earth flowed towards the
surface.
Oil and gas companies create their own
fracturing of a rock layer with the sole
purpose of extracting fuel. A bore hole is
drilled into the geologic formation which
contains the oil/gas. Then a highly
pressurized fracking fluid is pumped into
the hole leading to new channels in the
rock and hence, allows for extraction of
fossil fuels.
As the fluid is injected down the hole and
the fracture opens, other materials are
sometimes added to prevent the fractures
from closing - especially when the injection
processed has ended.
Not all wells are the same; some are very
permeable whereas others are low volume
wells, depending on the type of rock and
geologic structures. And example might be
shale for low permeability and sandstone
for high permeability; the former uses
20,000 to 80,000 gallons of fluid while
the latter can use up to 2-3 million gallons
of fluid per well. There can be
environmental issues in the disposal of this
fluid.
Examples in Nature
"Veins" can be caused by seismic activity
which leads to variations in stress levels of
the rock. Differing volumes of fluids can be
pumped into fractures during earthquakes.
The fluids (usually containing minerals)
can create a vein when pushed up through
rock and then can harden and crystallize;
sometimes a rock will appear one color and
there will be a stripe of some other material
in the rock.
The formation of a "dike" is similar to that
of a vein. The difference is that the fluid
filled cracks are molten rock, or magma.
Sometimes in sedimentary rock with a lot
of water content steam will be found at the
leading edge of the magma. Obviously this
feature would be more common in active
geologic regions such as areas near the
boundaries of the continental plates or
along the "ring of fire".
5
Fracking to Release Fossil Fuels
As mentioned earlier "fracking" or
"hydraulic fracturing" is using pressurized
fluid to expand cracks in rock to release oil
or gas from underground reservoirs. These
reservoirs are typically found in porous
sandstones, limestones, or dolomite rocks.
Sometimes the deposit can be found in
shale or coal beds. The oil/gas formations
can be retrieved from as deep as 1.5 - 6.1
km (5,000-20,000 feet). Sometimes the
formation just needs to be tapped and the
pressure alone will allow it to shoot to the
surface. Other times a conduit needs to be
formed to draw the fossil fuels to the
surface.
The fracture is created when pumping the
fracking fluid at sufficient rates to exceed
the fracture gradient of the rock. As the
fracture grows, permeable material (like
sand) is added to the hole to stabilize the
well. The fuel can then be drawn upwards
through the porous material.
Most hydraulic fracturing is performed in
vertical wells. But the latest technology
allows for horizontal wells also. The lateral
drill hole can extend up to nearly 3 km (2
mi) in some cases. Vertical wells usually
are only 15-90 meters (50-300 ft) deep.
Hydraulic fracturing is employed by 90% of
natural gas wells in the United States.
The fracturing fluid is a combination of
water, chemical additives, and proppants
(granular substances such as pellets or
sand that help the fluid do its work). In
addition there are sometimes gels, foams
and compressed gases (i.e., nitrogen or
carbon dioxide) added to the mixture. In
addition to the fluids and equipment to
propel the fluid, there is transportation and
storage of the fluid and the resulting fuel.
The Marcellus Shale formation is one of the
latest targets for fracking. This formation
extending from West Virginia and Ohio
eastward through Pennsylvania into New
York State has had its share of news worthy
stories, from estimated economic impacts
and jobs, to taxation, to environmental
concerns.
Environmental Concerns
There are plenty of environmental concerns
when it comes to hydraulic fracturing, from
contamination of ground water, pollution of
the air and global warming impacts, to
spills and mishandling of waste in the well
location and health effects.
While the EPA has been aware of some
possible contamination issues, there was
doubt among officials (from testimony at
Senate Hearing Committees) that the
fracking process itself has affected ground
water. The EPA studies were criticized for
being too narrow in scope, such as
concerns about water quality contaminated
from transporting fracking fluids, some fish
kills and even documented acid burns.
Private well owners have complained about
contamination. In 2005 hydraulic
fracturing was exempted by the U. S.
Congress from any regulation under the
Safe Drinking Water Act!
The reports of contamination of water
began to increase as fracking heated up.
6
One amazing example took place in the
town of Dimrock, PA with a report of 13
private wells found to be contaminated with
methane. And one of them actually blew
up. The local gas company was ordered to
compensate the homeowners although they
continued to deny responsibility. There
have even been reports of radiation in
fracking fluids that were released into
nearby rivers.
Beyond ground water and possible surface
pollution, there are the emissions of
greenhouse gases which are the leading
causes of global warming and air pollution
at the surface. The emissions from the
natural gas development and production
include particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur
oxide, carbon dioxide, and carbon
monoxide. Other emissions linked to
development include methane, ethane and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The
VOCs have been implicated in causing a
range of health issues - from respiratory
illness to neurological problems, birth
defects and cancer.
Although natural gas burns cleaner than oil
or coal and it is supposed to help lessen
global warming, an amount of methane is
typically released by these wells. And the
methane over short time periods is actually
worse than coal or oil due to how potent
this greenhouse gas is (20-25 times more
potent than CO2). The methane gradually
breaks down and has a lifetime in the
atmosphere of around 8-9 years (CO2 lasts
around 100 years). So even if natural gas is
burned efficiently, its carbon footprint is
still worse than coal or oil for timescales
less than 50 years.
Tar Sands
The Canadian Tar Sands, the Keystone
Pipeline controversy, and the basics of
environment preservation are covered here.
What Are Tar (Oil) Sands Anyway?
These geological features are not the
typical fossil fuel deposit that you usually
think of. Most are familiar with coal, oil,
and gas. Tar sands are a naturally occurring
mixture of sand, clay, water, and a dense or
viscous form of petroleum. This mixture
has the appearance, odor, and color of
"tar", hence the common name. These oil
sands are found in extremely large amounts
in Canada and Venezuela.
The tar sands are then mined and
processed to extract the oil-rich material
and then refined into oil. Extracting the oil
is more complex than typical recovery as
the process not only requires extraction and
separation systems to remove the oil sludge
from the clay, sand, and water, but also
requires special dilution with lighter
hydrocarbons (since so thick) to make it
transportable by pipelines.
A lot of the world's oil is in the form of tar
sands, this is estimated to amount to 2
trillion barrels! However not all of this oil is
recoverable. Tar sands are found in many
areas of the world (such as the Middle
East), however by far the largest deposits
are in Alberta Canada and Venezuela. There
are even some tar sand deposits in the
state of Utah.
A Little Industry Background
7
At this time oil is not produced from tar
sands on a significant commercial level in
the United States. Only Canada has a
large-scale commercial oil sands industry.
The industry, centered in Alberta, produces
more than one million barrels of synthetic
oil per day, or approximately 40% of
Canada's oil production. The output from
the Alberta-centered tar sands industry is
growing rapidly. Around 20% of U. S.
crude oil comes from Canada, with a large
amount of this coming from the tar sands.
Recently prices for oil have risen to
sufficient levels and technologies to extract
the oil from sands have improved to the
point to make production from oil sands
commercially attractive.
The oil sands reserves have only recently
gotten the headlines due to this
combination of oil price and improved
technologies. As long as these factors line
up in a favorable way for industry we will
continue to see oils sands remaining front
page news.
As alluded to earlier getting the oil from the
raw form to the usable form is no small
undertaking. There is a lot involved in the
process as will be covered next.
Extraction & Processing Overview
The oil sands can be extracted using open
mining at the surface. New methods of the
1990's improved the efficiency of the
mining which reduces the cost. The
systems use large hydraulic and electrically
powered shovels to dig the sands up and
load them into gigantic dump trucks. The
trucks carry up to 320 tons of tar sand per
load.
After the sands are transported to a facility,
hot water extraction is used to separate the
oil sludge from the sand, water, and
minerals. The resulting mixture is fed into
an extraction plant where 'agitation' occurs.
This releases oil and causes air bubbles
that attach to the oil droplets. These
droplets that float to the surface are then
skimmed off. Further processing leads to
synthetic crude oil.
Around two tons of oil sands are needed to
produce one barrel of oil. After the oil is
extracted, the used sand and other material
are then returned to the mine, which is
eventually reclaimed.
Other methods exist beyond strip mining
such as: steam injection, solvent injection,
and "fire floods" - in which oxygen is
injected and part of the resource is burned.
Steam injection is the favored method.
One of the latest current projects is the
Keystone Pipeline. This pipeline is to
transport synthetic crude oil from the oil
sands of northeastern Alberta, Canada to
several locations in the United States. The
locations include refineries in Illinois,
distribution hubs in Oklahoma and
proposed refineries along the Gulf Coast of
Texas. Basically there is an operational XL
pipeline and possible expansion segments
to the pipeline.
The Keystone pipeline has faced lawsuits
from oil refineries, environmental
organizations, and members of United
8
States Congress. The latest clash was
between some members of Congress and
President Obama over legislation that
would put approval of the expansion XL
pipeline on the fast track to development.
The President pushed back a decision until
2013. Of course environmental
organizations have their own concerns and
this will be covered in the next section.
Environmental Concerns & Conclusions
Mining and processing the oil sands wreaks
havoc on the environment. The strip mining
negatively affects wildlife and ecosystems
and leftover by products and pollution from
the strip mining can soak into the ground
water supply and run off into rivers and
streams. There is a large amount of dirty
water that is produced from the process;
only some can be recycled.
Some of the worst impacts are on the air
however. Getting the oil from the oil sands
with steam injection and refining leads to
major global warming impacts. In fact this
process leads to two to four times the
amount of greenhouse gases per barrel of
the end-product of refined oil as that
produced when extracting conventional oil.
If you include the final numbers, from oil
sands extraction to combustion you can see
that this is one of the major causes of
global warming; the emission is 10 to 45%
more greenhouse gases than regular oil!
Obviously, as far environmental awareness
is concerned, this is not the way to go if we
are serious in reducing the causes of global
warming. (Sources: ostseis.anl.gov and
wikipedia)
If you'd like to learn more please check out
my site: SurviveClimateChange
I'm a meteorologist with a Masters in
Meteorology. Besides weather, I also have a
passion for climate change and
environmental issues. I hope to share my
enthusiasm in my writing on these subjects
and offer suggestions on how to live in a
more "earth friendly" way. If you have any
questions or comments, I can be reached
at [email protected]:)
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon
_M_Flatley
The Bottom Line –
Is Fracking Really Safe?
In the last few years, with the increasing
demand for unique resources of energy,
scientists and big companies are turning
their heads and money on shale reserves,
sedimentary formations that seem tom hold
the future of energy: natural gas. With
recent turn of events and with the major
networks and independent film makers,
they take like on the technology called
fracking for oil. Don't be misled, this is not
the song. It has been highlighted in a
controversial documentary and now a lot of
buzz is directed towards this technology.
How is it good? What makes it ideal for
extraction? The biggest question would
have to be: is fracking for oil a safe
practice?
9
Fracking is a technology that has been
around for more than 60 years already and
basically, it is a method of extracting
natural gas and oil from various cracks or
vents deep underground by channeling a
reinforced well strategically on the ground,
an d pumping in water, chemicals and sand
under very high pressure, causing the gases
to become released, driving them upwards
for extraction. As said, water, sand and
chemicals are used. Chemicals are used to
prevent corrosion on the well surface,
preventing the equipment from getting
contaminated.
In the last few years, companies
implementing this procedure to their
extraction plants or oil wells have seen no
records of any form of gas emissions and
chemical release into the immediate water
systems outside the well. There are risks
with the implementation of the wells, and
that is a fact. The well should be perfectly
implemented from every step of the way in
order for the gases to prevent from mixing
up with clean water but that aspect is not
limited only to fracking for oil. The fact is
that any methodology that requires digging
past the water source is subject to risk if
not implemented properly. The technology
itself is not the cause why leakage could
happen that could eventually contaminate
the waters.
The process of fracking or hydraulic
fracturing has been around for a long time
already but it was a used mainly in
marginal economies where natural gas is
not as profitable but the manner of
extracting gas did not cause drastic
damage or any form of problems to the
water supply. However, with the increasing
demand for natural gas, more and more
wells are being made using this technology
and because of the demand, the main
problem is defective construction. This
means that at the end of the day, any
structure that has not been made with
precision and does not follow standards for
creating proper wells will end up
contaminating any underground water
source in the area.
Is it safe? Fracking for oil can be started as
a common technology. With anything that
requires utilizing natural resources, there
will always be risks. Fracking for oil in the
Marcellus Shale is becoming an important
aspect for the energy industry but it is
necessary to be careful and safe with the
utilization if chemicals and creation of
wells to prevent risks at the end of the day.
For more information on Marcellus Shale,
you can visit Marcellus Shale Fracking
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul
_Mike_John
More Fracking Earthquakes -
New Report and Research on Oil
and Gas Fracking from UK
Our Think Tank has previously mentioned
the challenges with fracking and ground
water, and the potential earthquake issues.
Most of the problems can be easily
mitigated depending on the geological
make-up of the regions where such
resources are. There was a heavy hitting
10
article recently in the UK about fracking
stating it "may cause earthquakes" - well
like I said, not a revelation here. Still,
perhaps we might discuss this for a
moment?
There was an interesting article recently on
the Forbes Blog on June 1, 2011 titled
"British Fracking Causes Earthquake - What
Now?" which was posted in the energy
category "Energy Source - How We Power
the World" by Chris Rhodes. In the article
Chris makes some great points;
"Hydraulic fracturing has made another
unwelcome appearance in the media, with
reports in the U. K. that the procedure may
cause earthquakes. Fracking involves the
injection of water containing a surfactant
and various other chemicals under high
pressure into a source rock e.g. shale,
causing the latter to fracture and release
natural gas (principally methane). It is
hoped that fracking will provide 45% of U.
S. gas by 2035, although the jury remains
"out" on its safety aspects."
Indeed, I think we've all instinctively known
all along that Fracking can in some
instances cause Earthquakes merely
because it is loosening up rock, most likely
not large ones if the industry is careful
where they work and exercises caution,
which of course is in their best interests
thus, you can consider it to be the norm,
safety first. So, I do not think this will be
such a huge issue.
We've also known that drilling oil without
putting something back in can be
problematic, numerous smaller earthquakes
in the past show that, a few larger than
small quakes too. We've had some fracking
quakes in the US already not major ones,
just small stuff and of course, we must use
our science to do it right and study the
areas we do this very carefully first. I have
no doubt that the oil and gas industry is
well on top of this issue.
Indeed, Chris' comments are correct in
citing the public's concern, conspiracy
theories, and shades of what will be called;
"a cover-up" of information on the subject,
and no doubt used by environmentalists as
another tool to attack Big Oil. There are
risks and rewards in anything we do when it
comes to energy, whether for our
transportation needs or powering up our
civilization
Nuclear has seen recent challenges in the
Japanese quake and Tsunami double
whammy. Oil has terrorist issues, pipeline
problems, and terrorists after refineries, not
to mention dealing with less than stellar
ethical nations around the world. Natural
Gas is not without worry either, for instance
the pipeline explosion and fire in the bay
area recently. Giant wind turbines create
ultrasound and mess up aviation radars.
Solar Power manufacturing uses an etching
solution which is 17,000 times worse than
CO2 for the atmosphere. Hydro is
challenged by droughts, damns, floods, etc.
We are going to have to deal with the cards
we have until the research available helps
improve these problems and challenges.
Please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online
11
Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers,
experts, innovators, entrepreneurs,
thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers,
leaders, and general all around brilliant
minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've
enjoyed today's discussion and topic.
http://www. WorldThinkTank.net - Have an
important subject to discuss, contact Lance
Winslow.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance
_Winslow
Fracking - Is It Worth Risking
Our Water Supply
Water is our most precious resource.
Without it, we would cease to exist. Out of
all the water on earth, only 2.5% is fresh
water and less than 1% is available for your
human consumption (since much of it is in
glacier form).
With the world’s population hitting almost
7 billion in 2011 and our bodies
themselves containing 70% water, it would
seem that the most critical of all
environmental concerns should be to
ensure the safety and protection of our
most critical and life sustaining resource,
WATER.
Water is so priceless and unique that its
topic has been studied by Japanese
scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto who has been
researching this new field of science by
freezing samples of water that have been
exposed to either positive or negative
words, emotions and music. Through
photographs, Dr. Emoto has found that
water exposed to positive influences
produces beautiful, perfectly formed
crystals, while water exposed to negativity
produces ugly, malformed crystals. Dr.
Emoto's study suggested that because
humans are primarily composed of water
and much of the earths surface is covered
in water, the power to change the essence
of water means that humans have the
power to evoke change on a global or
personal scale, by way of water. If these
controversial studies are accurate, than is it
possible that water is (in some fashion at
least), alive?
What if we no longer had access to fresh
drinking water, what would we do? If this
was the case, we would have to use
advanced filtering methods to convert salt
water into drinking water, but many argue
that it would not be the same. If we
consider fresh water to be in some way
"alive" would the converse be true by saying
that filtrated salt water would be
considered "dead"? If so, what affect would
drinking "dead" water have on our bodies?
Would filtrated salt water lose the waters
valuable nutrients?
There are an exhaustive variety of factors
and contaminants that threaten our water
supplies and "fracking" is one of them!
Since 1947, when the process of
"fracking", "hydraulic fracturing" or
"hydrofracking was first introduced
commercially, (to stimulate gas and oil
wells) by companies like Halliburton, it has
been used extensively worldwide ever since.
The process of fracking sped up the
extraction process making both oil and gas
12
more readily accessible and profitable.
There is a wealth of natural gas trapped
underground, but what depths are we
willing to go to extract it?
Fracking is a process by which sand, water
and chemicals are injected into dense rock
layers and shale creating cracks that allow
natural gas trapped inside to flow to the
earths surface. There are a number of
environmental and human health concerns
associated with "fracking"such as:
contamination of ground water, risks to air
quality, the risk of gases and hydraulic
fracturing chemicals reaching the surface,
and the potential for the mishandling of
waiste.
A number of chemicals identified in
fracturing fluid are hazardous chemicals
(such as ethylene glycol and toluene which
are toxic to humans) that may cause health
risks that range from rashes to cancer.
Some people living near fracking sites have
reported abnormalities in their water (such
as dark colored grease, sediment and
floating debris) as well as attempting to
link their health concerns to tap water that
has been contaminated from the fracking
process.
Although natural gas is known as being a
clean burning fuel and according to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
generates only about half as much
greenhouse gas as coal, Cornel University
Ecology and Environmental Biology
Professor, Robert Howarth argues that
methane which is 20 times more effective
at trapping heat than carbon dioxide,can
leak out during the fracturing process,
making natural gas leave more of a
greenhouse gas footprint on the earth than
the traditional offender, coal.
Whether you are a proponent for or against
fracking, the use of natural gas over coal or
believe that fracking can be hazardous to
human and animal health, is really
irrelevant. What is important is how far are
we willing to go to extract the natural gas or
oil for human use? Is it worth risking
contaminating our water supply?
Written by Suzanne Edwards "Making the
world greener one reader at a time"
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne
_A_Edwards
Wrapping up...
In this report, we've shown you:
What Is Fracking And Should We Be
Nervous About It
Fracking and Tar Sands
The Bottom Line – Is Fracking Really
Safe?
More Fracking Earthquakes - New Report
and Research on Oil and Gas Fracking
from UK
Fracking - Is It Worth Risking Our Water
Supply
On balance, we consider that fracking is
too high a risk to take and despite the
limitations on the amount of biogas which
can currently be generated, based upon
13
currently available biomass, and waste
production of organic waste materials,
However, that does not mean that there is
no solution to the current problem of
energy needs as biogas can produce much
more of our energy needs, and should be
seen as being the better option, and it can
be made in much larger quantities than is
produced today, in the UK.
In the rest of this special report we will
discuss biogas methane production.
SPECIAL REPORT:
Is It Possible To Produce
Biogas, Without Losing
Precious Earnings on Process
Downtime?
According to Steve last, an environmental
process engineer and owner of the popular
website www.anaerobic-digestion.com, the
answer is yes!
“Many biogas plant operators tell us that a
biogas plant is much more like owning a
cow than a tractor, and a badly behaved
cow at that", Steve tells us.
Why most people struggle
According to Steve Last , there's a reason
why so many people struggle with the idea
that if done right an anaerobic digestion
plant will deliver fuel bill
busting power, despite so much evidence
to the contrary, and help being offered to
them today from an ever increasing range
of biogas plant technology providers...
"Prospective AD Plant buyers, particularly
in the agricultural sector, but also
commercial clients in the growing food
waste digestion sector, fear that their
project will cost them far too much and run
out of their control, with fancy control
equipment and over specified and complex
systems."
Steve Last has set out to conquer
this perception with a unique
approach
"We tell intelligent clients who don’t mind
a bit of technical reading, how to operate
their biogas plant before we start. If they
start out by knowing “what they need to
do”, then remaining in control over
“how they do it”, is much easier.
Unlike some other Anaerobic Digestion
plant partners and turnkey
contractors", Steve Last tells us that all
the technical detail is “on the table”, from
the start. That way, the buyer can assess,
accept, or reject the technical details from
a point of knowledge.
Steve Last focuses on the unique approach
of providing accessible information first,
and if you like it; “bringing the client up to
speed in the technology, from the
start”, firstly to give the client the
confidence that he will be knowledgeable
enough about the product he is buying to
remain in firm control of his technical
advisors from start to finish , and secondly
so that he gets a feel for what operating an
14
AD plant is like, because it isn’t like
“buying a tractor”, and if the AD and Biogas
industry sells on that proposition,
unsatisfied clients may well be the
result.
To learn more about Steve Last’s solution,
and his story,
visit http://anaerobic-digestion.com .
What others are saying about
Steve’s IPPTS Associates web
site…
KT: “Great site, well done, lots of good info
for anyone looking at Anaerobic Digestion
to perform a number of services. I have
also studied AD … and it is very
interesting.
Witchaya K: I’m come from Thailand and
finding the information about anaerobic
digestion in the rural village. I'm studying
in master degree and making the project
about the anaerobic digestion. Thank you.
A. G: Biogas production from any viable
source is an obvious path in a petro-energy
stressed economy. My field of interest is
on-site wastewater treatment, given GHG
concerns carbon sequestering and energy
production potential is subject to scrutiny
right now. Comment: Relevant, well
presented and thus good.
To download Steve’s free report on how to
operate a biogas plant go
to,
http://anaerobic-digestion.com/downloads/h
ow-to-operate-an-anaerobic-digestion-plant
– it’s all there!
----------------------------
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