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Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 20 July 2011 Oil companies were today (Tuesday) asked to drop their plans to use hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to extract shale gas from the Karoo and other areas in South Africa. Millions of litres of water [...] Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 15 June 2011 By: Sarah Wild – guest of Royal Dutch Shell in Wyoming Having seen a natural gas extraction facility that works — and, despite its problems, Shell’s onshore natural gas development in Pinedale, Wyoming, works — it is not certain whether natural gas extraction will be the holy grail of energy and the employment cash cow that SA expects it to be.  Wyoming’s Pinedale anticline raises new concerns about natural gas extraction The country has been divided since it became public that Shell and several other energy companies had fixed their gaze on the Karoo and the shale gas reserves far beneath its surface. Some have argued that it will solve SA’s energy crisis, ensuring a fuel supply for about 200 years; help the country move away from its dependence on coal; and create “unprecedented” employment. According to the US Energy Information Administration, SA has technically recoverable shale gas resources of 13,7-trillion cubic metres, which could allow it to be energy independent. The 1,1-trillion cubic metres of natural gas from the Pinedale Anticline can supply 10-million homes with electricity for more than 30 years. Others have said natural gas would simply reinforce SA’s dependence on fossil fuels and cause irreparable environmental damage to an area with world- renowned biodiversity. The Pinedale facility debunks a number of the myths but raises new concerns about natural gas extraction, including the contentious technique of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Continue reading Working frack site raises new concerns about natural gas extraction Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 11 May 2011 Methane leaks are contaminating drinking water near shale gas drilling sites in the eastern United States, scientists said on Tuesday, placing a further question mark over this fast-growing energy source.  Shale gas carries a greater carbon footprint than oil, coal and conventional gas, using current extraction techniques Scientists tested water samples taken from 68 private wells in five counties in Pennsylvania and New York to explore accusations that “hydro-fracking” – a contested technique to extract shale gas – contaminated groundwater. Methane was found in 85 percent of the samples, and at sites within a kilometre of active hydraulic-fracturing operations, levels were 17 times higher than in wells far from such operations, said the study by researchers at Duke University in North Carolina. “In these rural areas, almost everybody has a well. They are using the groundwater for some purpose – they are using it for drinking, for their livestock, for agriculture,” lead author Stephen Osborn told AFP. However, little is known about the health impacts of consuming methane in drinking water. “We were surprised, and we have spoken with many health officials,” he said. “There is really no literature that addresses that particular issue – the physiological response – is methane really non-reactive in the body? What are the effects of consuming high concentrations of methane?” Continue reading Drinking water contaminated by fracking Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 08 May 2011
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 26 April 2011  Cabinet’s vote is clear in putting a halt to fracking at this time A lobby group opposed to hydraulic fracturing as a mining technique has dismissed media reports this morning, which stated that Shell’s fracking application for the Karoo would continue to be heard. A report in the Cape Times this morning claimed a moratorium announced by Cabinet last week had no impact on existing applications for fracking licenses, and that it rather only affected new applications. “It is absurd for anyone to suggest that Cabinet intended anything other than what is clearly described in the press release that was issued last Thursday,” said TKAG national coordinator Jonathan Deal. A press release said that Cabinet had, “… endorsed the decision by the Department of Minerals to invoke a moratorium on licenses in the Karoo where fracking is proposed.” “The statements attributed to the Department of Minerals spokesperson Bheki Khumalo today would serve only to rubbish the clear written directions from Cabinet, as described in their press release,” said Deal Continue reading There is no confusion about fracking in SA, says lobby group |
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