Fracturing

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: zanzabar
You need to stop posting Tempest, this has devolved into nonsense. Can we get back to the topic please? (regulation of fracking)


After seeing the Wild West bonanza the gas companies reaped in Pennsylvania and the social and economic chaos it caused, I'm glad NY is moving more slowly on fracking. The town I grew up in is in the middle of the areas that gas companies want to frack, and they're not happy about it. Many folks have taken the 45 minute trip to the heart of PA's fracking boom and seen the results. Those aren't what we want in NY.

Besides, there is plenty of gas that can be reached via regular wells. I don't like this "more, more, MORE!!!" attitude the big gas companies such as Chesapeake and Fortuna have.

 

[zanzabar]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: yucca
Frack Nation tonight at 1900 hours MST. Direct TV channel 340.

How was it? I don't get that channel...

From a review on Huffington Post:
"The claims of ecological ruin made in Gasland are exposed in Frack Nation as rejected by real scientists and the public servants working at the EPA.
...It eviscerates Gasland's credibility and makes clear that its director knowingly lied again and again. On the facts, the science, the conflicts of interest of its protagonists.
Frack Nation is worth seeing because it is a good film. It is funny in upending the pathetic lies of Gasland. It is fast-paced. (Is that legal in a documentary?) It is not heavy handed, self-congratulatory, or "full of itself." It breaks all the rules, or at least traditions, of the modern documentary. "


Sounds like it's worth watching. Couldn't find it online though.

Note that it was SCIENTISTS AT THE EPA!!! that defended fracking and the facts. Like I've said all along, fracking may or may not be inherently harmful to the environment and human health, but it NEEDS to be PROPERLY REGULATED!

 

[SteveSRT8]

Just another item in a long list for the spin doctors to work on.

Good luck figuring out the truth, we'll all need it.

 

[Hyde244]

I live in Ohio, which has been an epicenter of the shale gas boom, and have had the opportunity to hear a number of seminars by the Department of Energy, EPA, and two Consumer Activist groups discussing fracking.

One good step that has been taken is sampling well water quality before any drilling begins. Sometimes the water can simply be of naturally poor quality, without the drilling.

Thus far there has been good regulation with minimized contamination to ground water and water sources. I don't have the exact numbers from the DoE lecture, but there are thousands of fracking operations at present with only a handful of contamination incidents.

The purpose of drawing more natural gas is to replace coal. Natural gas is more efficient, and puts out fewer emissions. It is a superior fuel, and there will be a demand for it.

I know the DoE presentation was posted on OSU's website somewhere - I will see if I can drag it up and post it on this thread.

 

[LTVibe]

US shale oil prevents closing of East Coast refineries: Fracking offers a cheaper supply; keeps gas prices from rising

Quote:
A year ago, the shutdown of several refineries serving the Northeast and the possibility they would not reopen threatened to boost New England’s already high gasoline prices by as much as 15 cents a gallon. But an influx of cheaper crude oil extracted from shale rock formations in the United States has helped save most of those facilities and stabilized gas prices.

The revival of the East Coast refineries is another example of how the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is changing the energy equation for the region, nation, and world.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Hyde244
The purpose of drawing more natural gas is to replace coal. Natural gas is more efficient, and puts out fewer emissions. It is a superior fuel, and there will be a demand for it.


That then gets to the utility value of fuels.

IMO, Coal and Nuclear were "made" (for want of a better word) to be hard to handle, and are way better suited in the long term scheme of things to be used in stationary power applications.

Natural gas and oil are high utility fuels, and their transportability should be a consideration in now they are used.

New coal units are about half as efficient again as the stuff that's typically running in the US/Oz.

 

[Coprolite]

Ohio is a big area of focus for the Utica shale which is more liquids rich. With the current oil/gas prices, the industry on the US is focused on liquids with any co-produced gas coming as a fringe benefit.

There is a serious lack of scientific understanding of what goes into making (or breaking)a well. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the formations are not homogeneous so cookie cutter techniques are not optimal.

With respect to water use and/or reuse, the situation is complicated. One aspect that may have been overlooked in this discussion is that a well flows back less water than is used to frac it in the first place. The volumes used in frac are not inconsequential in any way and the limiting factors in operations are usually water or sand shortages.