Fracking in Sussex? Fracking Firm Test Drilling in Balcombe

[Matrix10]

Can't see a problem with fracking myself.

 

[Superseagull]

It still amazes me how many houses and buildings are lit with filament lights. Energy saving lights and now led bulbs make a huge difference to power consumption. I worked out the other day my house is now lit with less than 100W of energy for an investment of about £100 of long life LED bulbs. My parents kitchen and bathroom alone was 250W, the whole house probably >400W. The first target should be to get LED lighting affordable and installed wherever possible in homes and offices.

 

[LargeHadronZugzwang]

vast amounts of what? and if you use google you may also find that US is on course to be a net exporter of oil by end of decade. we should definatly try to reduce usage of oil but if we can reduce reliance on importation for that we do need, then that is a panacea.

the dangers and risks have largly been mitigated, with proper regulation and oversight to control location of sites and contents of fracking fluids. much of the problems in the US were from the first few years where it was wild west style anything goes experimentation. we've learnt from that.

*****

We are discussing Natural Gas/Unconventional Gas here, not unobtainium.

Secondly, you say you can regulate pumping carcinogenic chemicals underground, good luck with that if you think you can control the geology of the Earth.

Thirdly, reducing imports by huge amounts ain't going to happen unless we reduce our consumption. Shale is proving to be Ponzi and it is not the first time banks have been known to invest wrongly, witness what happened in 2008.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Re: fracking in sussex....

And therein lies the current issue with fracking. The companies involved and to a lesser extent the government sell it as the wonderful and safe solution to our energy problems BUT there is no real evidence one way or the other.

Given the huge profits involved I'm always going to be cynical that we've been given the real facts. On a completely non-scientific level I struggle to believe that pumping chemicals into the ground can ever actually be good for the environment and by association those people who live in it.

Not picking on you specifically but there is a major misconception being repeated here. There is no secret sauce to fracking fluid, it is just pressurised water. This is not to belittle the argument about the potential for hazardous waste, because this is a by product released from the shattered rock.

For exampke Radon sounds dangerous until you realise we are exposed to it every day in low dosages, as it occurs naturally in rocks and soil. Most of us live in houses that include some form of radon prevention measures.

 

[beorhthelm]

We are discussing Natural Gas/Unconventional Gas here, not unobtainium.

Secondly, you say you can regulate pumping carcinogenic chemicals underground, good luck with that if you think you can control the geology of the Earth.

Thirdly, reducing imports by huge amounts ain't going to happen unless we reduce our consumption. Shale is proving to be Ponzi and it is not the first time banks have been known to invest wrongly, witness what happened in 2008.

why cant people edit posts correctly, its not difficult? maybe it is for those that cant research things with any breadth. you cannot say the chemicals are carcinogenic, because no one know what is in them as they are kept trade secret. could be just brine and apple juice for you know. what they are going to do in the UK and Europe is insist that the contents are known and nasty crap kept out. fears of ground water pollution can be mitigate by not permitting drilling near aquafers and ensuring proper casing are deployed to prevent leakage in the drilling. monitoring is in place for possible earthquakes, but those measured relating to fraking are similar to coal mining (ie bugger all). thats how you regulate, understand and place rule and procedure around something.

clearly we arent going to import as much oil and gas if we have millions of barrels/sq.mtr of the stuff locally. you need to look up what "ponzi" actually means, beacause it doesnt have any bearing here.

 

[BadFish]

[video]http://www.globalresearch.ca/shrouded-in-secrecy-industry-buries-frackings-true-dangers/5333467[/video]

http://ecowatch.com/2013/european-union-suspicious-fracking-industry/

 

[BadFish]

why cant people edit posts correctly, its not difficult? maybe it is for those that cant research things with any breadth. you cannot say the chemicals are carcinogenic, because no one know what is in them as they are kept trade secret. could be just brine and apple juice for you know. what they are going to do in the UK and Europe is insist that the contents are known and nasty crap kept out. fears of ground water pollution can be mitigate by not permitting drilling near aquafers and ensuring proper casing are deployed to prevent leakage in the drilling. monitoring is in place for possible earthquakes, but those measured relating to fraking are similar to coal mining (ie bugger all). thats how you regulate, understand and place rule and procedure around something.

clearly we arent going to import as much oil and gas if we have millions of barrels/sq.mtr of the stuff locally. you need to look up what "ponzi" actually means, beacause it doesnt have any bearing here.

I don't know much about his subject and have just done a little reading but surely that is an enormous amount of trust that we are placing in the fracking companies if we don't know which chemicals they are using.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

Its the future

The future is micro-generation.

 

[LargeHadronZugzwang]

Grammar and spelling not always difficult either despite the odd typo.

The same assurances you are giving us are the same ones used prior to Deep Water Horizon accident, the avoidable mess that was made in Nigeria and vast pollution in Ecuador.

Apple juice ain't going to force gas out of the ground. Benzine and acids are not stuff that goes in the fridge.
You clearly have not been reading and continue to believe the hype. Exponential usage is the problem.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

It still amazes me how many houses and buildings are lit with filament lights. Energy saving lights and now led bulbs make a huge difference to power consumption. I worked out the other day my house is now lit with less than 100W of energy for an investment of about £100 of long life LED bulbs. My parents kitchen and bathroom alone was 250W, the whole house probably >400W. The first target should be to get LED lighting affordable and installed wherever possible in homes and offices.

Agreed, also the government should make grants available to all UK households to make micro-generation affordable to ordinary people, this would encourage growth in the economy by creating jobs in this sector. Micro-generation technologies include small-scale wind turbines, Micro hydro, photovoltaic solar systems, Plant Microbial Fuel Cells, ground source heat pumps, and Micro Combined Heat and Power (MicroCHP) installations.

 

[Goldstone76]

wow. some people really dont like the idea of fracking so will make up any old rubbish. and some will believe it.

wheres this toxic and radio active waste come from? and if, as is told elsewhere, the fracking fluid is secret and unknown, how come the author knows there is 600 chemicals and thier detailed effects? all fear mongering bollocks.

have a look at the present fracking site at Balcombe - every London commuter will have been past it, just next the railway, bearly noticed.

Not just any old rubbish made up. There are very real concerns about Fracking. The problem is that companies and governments really dont give a shit about the well being of its people. Its all about the £/$!

On methane entering the water supply from here

Studies are few, but a recent analysis suggests a link. Scientists who sampled groundwater from 60 private water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York found that average methane concentrations in wells near active fracturing operations were 17 times as high as in wells in inactive areas. Methane naturally exists in groundwater — in fact, the study found methane in 51 of the 60 water wells — but the higher levels near extracting sites raised eyebrows.

Fracking is also causing Earthquakes it would appear.. Link here. This is dirty energy where clean energy is available but of course the existing energy monopolys dont want us to benefit because they will lose income. So to all you people out there who want to be sheep and follow what your told by the government and those companies he say "its ok" I would suggest keep making your noise.. "Baaaaaaaa"....

 

[beorhthelm]

I don't know much about his subject and have just done a little reading but surely that is an enormous amount of trust that we are placing in the fracking companies if we don't know which chemicals they are using.

thats the point, we will know. its just the current exploration in the US is done with unknown chemicals. the fear and uncertainy is from a few cases when cowboy operations went round digging holes where ever a landowner let them, which isnt going to be permitted over here. (its not happening over there now either)

Agreed, also the government should make grants available to all UK households to make micro-generation affordable to ordinary people, this would encourage growth in the economy by creating jobs in this sector.

well they sort of did. there was feed in tariff on solar, wind, small hydro plants. but who paid for it? you recall how the power bills went up few years ago with a environment levy? not politiclaly acceptable now and they've tried to cut that back. of course a better strategy, as you hint at, might be to subsidise say loans for the equipment/infrastructure then we, the small generator, would just feed in at the market rate.

 

[beorhthelm]

Not just any old rubbish made up. There are very real concerns about Fracking.

yes, there are concerns. like what you've posted, rational sensible point about samples of higher than expected methane in water. was it the fracking? was it the natural presence? eyebrows are raised and investigations need to be done, problems identified and fixed. (you will note that all the stories about methane contamination come from the same case)

contrast to the OP's post full of hyperbole and unsubstatiated claims, unnamed "eminent scientist", numbers with no context and, my favorite, a picture of someone drinking some muddy water.

 

[Goldstone76]

yes, there are concerns. like what you've posted, rational sensible point about samples of higher than expected methane in water. was it the fracking? was it the natural presence? eyebrows are raised and investigations need to be done, problems identified and fixed. (you will note that all the stories about methane contamination come from the same case)

contrast to the OP's post full of hyperbole and unsubstatiated claims, unnamed "eminent scientist", numbers with no context and, my favorite, a picture of someone drinking some muddy water.

Governments are shitting themselves about energy issues. They have not invested as much as they should have in getting new energy available because the big energy players are holding governments to ransom. Interestingly as mankind has acted like a fat pig at the trough for the last 60 odd years minerals are going to run out.. And these are the minerals that enable present and new technologies. Example link here.

Back to fracking.. Its an example of an extraction method thats being used with no real concrete evidence that its safe and if/when a major catastrophe occurs then the scientists will say "ahhh" the companies will say "whoops" and the governments will say "sorry". If there was ever a survey of fracking company owners I bet none of them will be found living anywhere near a fracking site!

 

[CheeseRolls]

Re: fracking in sussex....

Fracking is also causing Earthquakes it would appear.. Link here. This is dirty energy where clean energy is available but of course the existing energy monopolys dont want us to benefit because they will lose income. So to all you people out there who want to be sheep and follow what your told by the government and those companies he say "its ok" I would suggest keep making your noise.. "Baaaaaaaa"....

As does coal mining, only on a larger scale. From a practical point of view the transition to clean energy is taking too long, costs are not falling quickly enough and we really need a stop gap solution. I believe that both shale gas extraction and nuclear generation have a part to play for the next 20-30 years.

Take a look at the reports earlier this week about tidal power in the Pentland Firth. We are looking at 10 years to develop a solution that might work. Fantastic I hope the government pour resources into this project, but in the mean time, how do we keep the lights on ?

 

[LargeHadronZugzwang]

Governments are shitting themselves about energy issues. They have not invested as much as they should have in getting new energy available because the big energy players are holding governments to ransom. Interestingly as mankind has acted like a fat pig at the trough for the last 60 odd years minerals are going to run out.. And these are the minerals that enable present and new technologies. Example link here.

Back to fracking.. Its an example of an extraction method thats being used with no real concrete evidence that its safe and if/when a major catastrophe occurs then the scientists will say "ahhh" the companies will say "whoops" and the governments will say "sorry". If there was ever a survey of fracking company owners I bet none of them will be found living anywhere near a fracking site!

Exactly. Here is more. What is more, even Investment Bankers are reading this stuff...
http://michaelklare.com/books/the-race-for-whats-left/

 

[hybrid_x]

NSC seems to be a hub for people that have no care for the planet or animals.........it makes for a strange but compulsive read at times.

 

[Nibble]

Hybrid is a conspiracy freak. Don't buy it.

 

[Goldstone76]

The crux of the matter is we can and do have the technology and knowledge to produce clean energy but we just can't be bothered.

Its all to do with what is financially viable but the main issue is the control that energy companies have. Put another way every house could have solar panels and the companies could invest in tidal and wind farms but then they would lose their income.

 

[ALBION28]

Can't say I am keen on this. I was hoping to move back down to Sussex but with oil and now gas extraction (fracking) is a consideration. Perhaps house prices will fall!! I note the government is considering a bribe for the local population to tolerate it. Now that should set alarm bells ringing. In Blackpool it led to earth quakes so they had to stop. Up here in Doncaster the media is somewhat dismayed that coal is not chosen . We already have the power stations, we have 300 years supply of coal under the UK as well as cheap imports available. Carbon capture deals with the pollution aspect. So whats the barrier? European union. They just cannot seem to understand the progress made in coal use.