Coming to a town near you...........Hydraulic Fracturing

[00snook]

In fact coming to a town very near some of you, as permission has been applied for a well in Balcombe.

Watch here to find out what this means for us here in the UK.


Watch the film | Frack Off

 

[Meade's Ball]

Doesn't it mean cheaper gas prices and occasional earthquakes? Both prime selling points surely. If they can bring about tornados too then has to add the words DANGER and BEWARE to our tourist board adverts that will doubtlessly widen the gamut of our visitors.

 

[HalifaxSeagull]

In fact coming to a town very near some of you, as permission has been applied for a well in Balcombe.

Watch here to find out what this means for us here in the UK.


Watch the film | Frack Off

Earthquakes - a small price to pay for a few quid off your gas bills?!

 

[GreersElbow]

Aren't these known to cause severe pollution to water supplies in the U.S.?

 

[ALBION28]

Well I had better be careful where I move to on my return to the industrial south next year.

 

[00snook]

Aren't these known to cause severe pollution to water supplies in the U.S.?

Yeah thats what the video shows.

Only 1% of the liquid they pump into the ground for fracking is chemicals. The problem is 1% of the liquid equals 5000 gallons per well, meaning that each well pumps 5000 gallons of chemicals up to 2k underground into bedrock.

Unsurprisingly this finds its way into the water supply.

Is not ideal.

 

[zfleas]

The problem is cheaper gas is needed - many power stations are not running at the moment because it is more profitable to sell the gas than to burn it and produce electricity. Blackouts or fracking?

 

[beorhthelm]

Unsurprisingly this finds its way into the water supply.

might find its way into water aquifers, which might be involved in water supply. there's a lot of hype on the risks, from what i can tell mostly due to very slack standards of the US operators, like knowingly going for easy/shallow desposits near water aquifers. coal mines cause all sorts of problems too and some people think we should go back to them just to provide empolyment, probably wouldnt be allowed to start that industry today.

 

[GreersElbow]

TIDAL f***ing ENERGY.

That is all, we're a f***ing island nation, and we've not embraced tidal energy.

 

[seagully]

might find its way into water aquifers, which might be involved in water supply. there's a lot of hype on the risks, from what i can tell mostly due to very slack standards of the US operators, like knowingly going for easy/shallow desposits near water aquifers. coal mines cause all sorts of problems too and some people think we should go back to them just to provide empolyment, probably wouldnt be allowed to start that industry today.

Plus the system being used here is safer than the US version

 

[Everest]

Aren't these known to cause severe pollution to water supplies in the U.S.?

Good enough for me. Let's carry on and completely frack their water.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

The govt have admitted this won't reduce prices. It is purely to end a dependence* on other gas-producing countries.

*which could be achieved by investing in alternative energy sources but hey ho.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Earthquakes - a small price to pay for a few quid off your gas bills?!

Its also going to knock a few quid off property prices too

 

[Bold Seagull]

TIDAL f***ing ENERGY.

That is all, we're a f***ing island nation, and we've not embraced tidal energy.

It amazing considering all of the amazing things human beings have achieved, but so far have failed to harness the unbelievable amount of energy available from the planet every single second without needing to split atoms or burn stuff.

Finally it seems Europe is realising that in a win win situation, investing in African states for solar farms can deliver much of their energy needs. I read Italy are investing in a CSP plant in Tunisia that will provide a low loss power link to a 2GW solar farm - the equivalent output of 2 nuclear power stations - and all for simply collecting the energy from light. Ghana similarly for their own power using PV farms are building a 155MW farm to power 100,000 homes.

It's not hard to imagine some claims that most of Europe will be powered by African solar by 2050. (shit, I'll be nearly 80!).

 

[GingerBeerMan]

TIDAL f***ing ENERGY.

That is all, we're a f***ing island nation, and we've not embraced tidal energy.

A very expensive technology which is in its infancy and doesn't produce sufficient amounts of energy to satisfy our needs.

 

[somerset]

Here we go, the same people moaning and protesting about Nuclear Power because of potential meltdown, wind power because of the blight on the countryside, coal power because of the pollution, tidal power because of the affect it might have on the flora and fauna of a particular area, gas fracking because of all of the above,..... sheesh,.... listen, as we have little or no potential for solar power, and importing all our gas and coal from all points east is putting ourselves into a vulnerable position,.... I would like to know what your collective answers to our power issues are.?

 

[pb21]

It amazing considering all of the amazing things human beings have achieved, but so far have failed to harness the unbelievable amount of energy available from the planet every single second without needing to split atoms or burn stuff.

Well we have, just not from an economically viable POV.

 

[somerset]

A very expensive technology which is in its infancy and doesn't produce sufficient amounts of energy to satisfy our needs.

It doesnt no,... research the Rance estuary in Brittany near St Malo,... proved to be very expensive to build, took 20 years to pay for itself and has environmental issues,... but is fairly cheap to produce power.l.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Apparently there is a major US report out next month on the impact of Fracking on water supplies. I want to reserve judgement on this, until I have had the chance to digest the findings. However there is more than enough luddite bollocks being spread around right now, which makes me broadly positive to the idea. Just a couple of quick points then.

Earthquakes - The ones experienced near Blackpool were less severe than many associated with coal mining. New and more stringent checks are being put in place and although this sounds like a big deal I really suspect it isn't.

Water Pollution - The fracking activity will take place at far greater depths than where we extract our water. For Sussex much of the water is collected from the foot of the downs, after the chalk has done a nice filtering job on it. When you look at these horror shows on YouTube. Remember Yanks in Hixville do not have the equivalent of Southern Water (lucky buggers) and no one bar the guy who did the digging has a clue where they are extracting water from. I think it is only farmers here under licence who are able to extract their own water. So no I don't believe anyone is likely to be able to cook lunch in the kitchen sink.

Environmental - Sure Shale gas is not renewable, but it is cleaner than a lot of the coal and oil we are still burning. It could also be considerably cheaper than today's renewables. There are some tough decisions to be made based on environmental impact, price and security of energy supply. Anyone who wants to make a decision based on one of these three alone is an idealist and frankly should be ignored.

 

[k2bluesky]

You can't help wondering how many more warnings mankind will ignore about our pollution of the planet, from the increasingly unstable weather, to the thousands of birds and fish, crabs etc dying, en mass the world over from possible methane/carbon dioxide released by the earth, maybe as a result of the massive disturbances we have created from all the oil/gas wells sunk.

The endless chopping down of forests, which filter out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and put back oxygen, thus polluting the very air we breathe and now our water could be under attack from Fracturing. Really, it is time to take notice of our vastly overpopulated planet, which will not be able to sustain such destruction before reacting in a manner, will we have no control over.