NorthernStar Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The pros are as expected well documented and clear to see, there are however cons that are not fully understood nor regulated for. The economic benefits are great but at what cost? There's always a cost and this could be a disaster in the making for short term gain. I for one would like us to take a more cautions and time tested approach, it seems that the world and it's dog are moving into this new form of gas mining at an alarming rate already, this in itself will prove economically beneficial to us without having to take all the risks to our environment and our health. If in time the other nations are showing the benefits outweigh the risks then our shale will still be down there for us to exploit, our environment, friends and relatives and way of life are not so easy to replace once destroyed. Some interesting links:- http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/08/27/gvl10827.htm http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The CCC are an independent body that advises the Government. The point is, gas prices will not come down as you state. The US is not part of the Europe wide grid, we are, therefore gas can be sold to the highest bidder. Caudrilla may extract gas from British soil (rock) but that doesn't mean it will be sold to British consumers. In which case it would bring in income to the UK. Can't lose really. There are also shale gas reserves in Europe which will be exploited bringing down prices there. ---------- Post added 13-12-2012 at 16:43 ---------- The pros are as expected well documented and clear to see, there are however cons that are not fully understood nor regulated for. The economic benefits are great but at what cost? There's always a cost and this could be a disaster in the making for short term gain. I for one would like us to take a more cautions and time tested approach, it seems that the world and it's dog are moving into this new form of gas mining at an alarming rate already, this in itself will prove economically beneficial to us without having to take all the risks to our environment and our health. If in time the other nations are showing the benefits outweigh the risks then our shale will still be down there for us to exploit, our environment, friends and relatives and way of life are not so easy to replace once destroyed. Some interesting links:- http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/08/27/gvl10827.htm http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking I agree that Unconventional Gas needs to be much better regulated here than it has been in the USA, but then H,S&E standards are shocking in the USA compared to here in Europe. I've worked both sides of the Atlantic and the Americans still have a very gung-ho attitude to safety. It's what got them into trouble with the Deep Sea Horizon blowout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcoblog Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Actually, they already do that on offshore drilling rigs. You can't inject rubbish into fractures that you want to produce from, for that you want those ceramic beads, known as 'sand' because they're so small (less than a mm diameter). However, the drilling process creates a lot of waste cuttings, the small chips of rock produced by drilling a hole, often slightly toxic depending on the drilling fluid used. There's a lot of it when you consider the volume of a well several miles long. It used to be dumped overboard in the bad old days. Then it was put in skips and shipped onshore for disposal in landfill. Then someone realised it could be re-injected into old wells in a similar process to fracking and that's what's done with it now. Ok ... I'll go along with that, you appear to be a lot cleverer than me. Please tell me how the hell someone can drill a directional hole (goes down for a couple of kilometres, then sideways (for another fifty or so) and up a bit ... then left ... then explodes! ... in exactly the place it's supposed to be!?) If you've got the technology to do that, surely you can get rid of a few Tesco bags when you're down'st there ... maybe some 'out of date' bananas too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The point is, gas prices will not come down as you state. The US is not part of the Europe wide grid, we are, therefore gas can be sold to the highest bidder. Caudrilla may extract gas from British soil (rock) but that doesn't mean it will be sold to British consumers. Aside from the important detail that you should be worrying about having gas at all, at any price in the future, surely they will do what is required of them in line with the license issued to them in by the government in 2007? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Total Chaos Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The government just announced that they will allow exploitation of shale gas and petroleum by the process commonly known as fracking. That's great news for our balance of payments, jobs, gas and oil prices, and last but not least, means lots of work for me. Thought I'd better declare my interest, but all the other positives still apply. This could be another North Sea to allow us to be able to spend our way to prosperity again. That is great news.The Government can now sell it abroad to make even more money and we will still have to pay the same as we are now.Nothing will change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Please tell me how the hell someone can drill a directional hole (goes down for a couple of kilometres, then sideways (for another fifty or so) and up a bit ... then left ... then explodes! ... in exactly the place it's supposed to be!?) It's complicated. Even I don't understand it and I do it for a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyoHazuki Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 No good for anything or anyone this. Excepting Nagel, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geared Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I wonder if pumping out all the gas from underneath the country will cause any subsidence problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I wonder if pumping out all the gas from underneath the country will cause any subsidence problems. It seems that it is from deeper than coal mines and they don't need tunnels held up by pit props that they remove after they finish extraction. Cuadrilla reckon they could extract maybe 40 billion cubic metres a year for about 40 years.. http://www.nohotair.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2432:how-much-shale-gas-in-the-uk-more-than-some-would-have-us-think&catid=166&Itemid=170 According to tonights news that was just the Lancashire field. There are other potential fields notably in North Yorkshire and in Wales. The experimental field in Lancashire is just the tip of the iceberg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyoHazuki Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I wonder if pumping out all the gas from underneath the country will cause any subsidence problems. Yeah I wonder. Hmmm.... According to tonights news that was just the Lancashire field. There are other potential fields notably in North Yorkshire and in Wales. The experimental field in Lancashire is just the tip of the iceberg. And when the Northern countryside has been scarred and torn, when walkers go missing after falling into holes and stumbling into quakes, and we're no better off, will we all still be as excited about it? I wonder how much fracking will take place in the South? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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