Google analytics

Thursday 22 September 2011

Frakking great

Well I would hope so, if Huhne and his green sycophants can be kept at bay.

Cuadrilla Resources believes there are 200 trillion cubic feet of "shale" gas in the Bowland basin, which could result in a Lancashire gas boom creating 5,600 jobs at peak production.

Shale is a type of onshore gas common in the US, which is extracted by blasting apart rock in a process called fracking.

More testing is needed, but the estimates suggest Britain could have more shale gas than Poland, which has been considered Europe's biggest holder of probable reserves.

Others have calculated that this could make us gas sufficient for the next 30 years.

A bit of an explanation can be found Here on what it is.

Unconventional gas is the collective term used to describe tight gas, shale gas and/or coal bed methane (CBM). While conventional gas resources can be developed and produced without any special well completions, most unconventional gas production requires the rock to be fractured (“fracked”) or stimulated to allow gas to escape from the tight rock and flow through the wellbore to the surface. These special well completions made drilling for unconventional gas uneconomical for many years.

Toward the end of the 20th century, the combination of two existing technologies – horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – shifted unconventional gas production into the main stream. Learn more about how unconventional gas is extracted with our interactive animation.

The potential of shale gas, tight gas and CBM has been known for centuries, with the first shale gas wells drilled in the 1820s. However, it is only with recent technological improvements that extracting the resources has become an economically viable option.

Currently, natural gas has approximately 60 years of proven reserves at current demand levels, but according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this rises to more than 250 years if the unconventional gas potential is added. Clearly, unconventional gas may play a large part in ensuring the security of global energy supply for years to come.

If only we could make our Politicians see sense. I’m all for conservation, but how do we do that if we bankrupt ourselves on the Altar of green crap?

8 comments:

  1. "Frackinbg" or fracturing the rock.

    Is what used to happen when the NCB (National Coal Board) used to, possibly somewhere still do, extract coal from one of their mines. Only in this case they would take a whole seam out of the ground and let the upper strata fracture as it fell into the void. (I guess it is not exactly the same)

    We used to hear about investigations into subsidence, but there was never to my knowledge any whinging about earthquakes in South Wales

    The point is I cannot believe fracking could produce earth quakes where extracting whole seams of coal didn't seem to.

    Environmentalists == Ignoramuses

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon.

    Those of the green persuasion will do anything to stop gas and oil. All they can think of is useless windmills and solar panels. The first don't generate when we have a cold spell. the second don't generate at night or when it's cloudy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I often wish Politicians could be "fracked" to release all their hot-air in a single event.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the second don't generate at night or when it's cloudy...

    ...unless you're Spanish, that is:

    http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/465409/spanish_nighttime_solar_energy_fraud_unlikely_in_uk.html

    (quoted by RMcGeddon in reply to Apogee at a post by Subrosa - but then you knew that already)

    Since gas is the fuel of choice for most densely-populated urban areas, whatever is decided now, I suspect we'll see some desperate political manoeuvring and backtracking once supplies start to run seriously low; vox populi, vox dei.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ancient + Tattered Airman22 September 2011 at 21:24

    Please believe me when I say I am not a tree-hugger, but there could be a problem. Where gas fracking has been done, there are reports of the water table being polluted. I would like to see a full debate on the possible risk of this happening. Those who get their water from the mains will almost certainly be unaffected but what of those who live in an area NOT served by mains and have to rely on boreholes?

    ReplyDelete
  6. A+T Airman, click on the link below, and your worries on water table problems should be put to rest.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvnnBcxhzNA&feature=player_embedded#!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A&TA: "Where gas fracking has been done, there are reports of the water table being polluted."

    I remember a film perporting to show that fracking had caused methane to flow into the aquifer and out through the domestic tap leading to 'flamable water'.

    One question the guy conducting the presentation didn't ask was 'Did you have gas in your water before the fracking process started?"

    Reply, "Oh yes".


    Looking at any exposed rock face where over the years many strata are pulverised and fractured, I can't see that this process of fracturing would do much more 'damage' than nature already does herself. Further, this process doesn't seem to actually remove much material from the bore.

    Therefor I can't see any threat from subsidence, not much from earthquakes, and none to the strata above from the minimal disturbance of the gas bearing strata below.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ JP ..

    I think the correct term is "Fragging" .. using a high explosive anti-personnel grenade ..

    And it sounds like a bloody good idea, Joe .. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Say what you like. I try to reply. Comments are not moderated. The author of this blog is not liable for any defamatory or illegal comments.