Nat Gas Fracking, Suspected Earthquake Link
January 8, 2012
Natural gas has been promoted by the energy industry as the answer to the need for a clean fossil fuel. Indeed, as measured by emissions from coal-fired power plants are twice that of natural gas power sources. The conversion from coal to natural gas well underway as utilities switch to gas under stricter emission mandates.
The natural gas industry, however, has recently comes under increased scrutiny by the public and regulatory agencies over the practice of extracting gas reserves through method known as Fracking – a controversial extraction technique that involves injecting chemically-laced water and sand into shale rock to release oil and gas.
The first problem with Fracking came to light several years ago, with allegations of fresh water contamination of lakes, wells, and aquifers by property owners and municipalities claiming damages from nearby extraction operations. The mixing of gas and chemicals with otherwise clean water sources was not welcome news to the industry.
There is now mounting evidence linking hundreds of small earthquakes from Oklahoma to Ohio to the energy industry's growing use of fracking technology.
Although the problem with water contamination resulting from Fracking remains unresolved, scientists say there is a way to minimize the risk of earthquakes, and even minor temblors -- only, it will cost about $10 million per extraction site.
The problem -- pressure caused by water pushed far below the surface for a long period has been linked to an increase in seismic activity, as water enters fissures and lubricates fault lines which can cause earthquakes in places otherwise free of them.
"It basically greases the wheels of the earthquake process that is there naturally and causes the earthquakes to occur at lower stress levels than they might normally have needed to occur," said Larry Brown who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
The solution -- a thorough seismic survey to assess tracts of rock below where oil and gas drilling fluid is disposed of could help detect quake prone areas. The industry practice of drilling a simple bore hole and then taking a limited sample of a rock formation provides no hint of faults lines or plates which, if artificially pressurized through Fracking, could lead to one or more earthquake events.
The more expensive and scientifically complete method of surveying sites will be a hard sell to an industry use to getting its way, as well as presenting the possibility of providing irrefutable proof of the link between Fracking and earthquakes. "If we knew what was in the earth we could perfectly mitigate the risk of earthquakes," said Austin Holland, seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey. "That is something that we don't have enough science to establish yet."
As simpler, lower cost, and common sense solution for the industry may available by taking the necessary precautions to mitigate risks of earthquakes near disposal wells, such as lowering injection pressure and avoiding areas with a history of seismic activity, though none of these guarantee total safety.
A 4.0 New Year's Eve quake in Ohio prompted officials to shut down five wells used to dispose of fluid used in the hydraulic fracturing process. That comes less than a year after Arkansas declared a moratorium due to a surge in earthquakes as companies developed the Fayetteville Shale reserve.
LINK TO EARTHQUAKES
On paper, the link between fracking and quakes is compelling. As the oil and gas industry embarked on a massive expansion of hydraulic fracturing across Arkansas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the number of earthquakes in areas where wastewater was injected back underground surged tenfold.
Data from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which had seismographs set up in Youngstown on Saturday, concluded that the earthquake occurred at the same depth as the well, about 2 miles below the surface.
"There is a relationship between when they started to inject into the well and the earthquakes started near the bottom of the well so it is unlikely to be coincidental," said John Armbruster at Lamont-Doherty.
In Oklahoma, which saw a tenfold increase in earthquakes since 2009 to over 1,000, officials at the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OKGS) say more proof of a link to fracking is needed.
"The strong correlation in time and space as well as a reasonable fit to a physical model suggest that there is a possibility these earthquakes were induced by hydraulic fracturing," according to a OKGS report released in August. "However, the uncertainties in the data make it impossible to say with a high degree of certainty."
As science and industry seek answers, there remains the problem of water contamination and the need to dispose of millions of gallons of contaminated fluid extracted from each drilling site, either to be recycled or trucked to a separate location to be pumped deep underground.
It natural gas is to be then "bridge fossil fuel" to a clean, sustainable, and renewable energy future, answers are needed now to address the environmental and geological concerns associated with Fracking.
Carbon Emissions on the Rise, by Country
Dec, 2011
LONDON (Reuters) - Countries are trying to agree a new package of measures to stem rising greenhouse gas emissions and fund protection from droughts, floods and rising seas at U.N. climate talks in Durban, South Africa.
The two-week global negotiations, this past December, produced an agreement to reduce emissions among the global participants. Remarkable, the world's top two emitter,s China and the United States, agreed to legal binding emissions reductions of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2).
The following CO2 emissions, a direct result of burning fossil fuels, by country for 2010, with exceptions of Australia and Spain, indicate an alarming upward trend in the global output of pollutants and emissions, according to the energy company BP.
2010, Mln
Pct change vs Pct of total
tons CO2 2009
Total World 33,158 5.8 100
China 8,333 10.4 25
US 6,145 4.1 19
European Union 4,143 2.2 13
India 1,708 9.2 5
Russian Federation 1,700 6.1 5
Japan 1,308 6.8 4
Germany 828 3.7 3
South Korea 716 8.5 2
Canada 605 2.6 2
Saudi Arabia 563 7.0 2
Iran 558 2.7 2
United Kingdom 548 3.6 2
Brazil 464 11.4 1
Mexico 447 0.2 1
Italy 439 1.4 1
South Africa 437 1.6 1
Indonesia 424 6.6 1
France 403 1.6 1
Australia 367 -8.2 1
Spain 334 -3.7 1
Taiwan 331 5.9 1
Poland 325 4.2 1
Global Industry Emissions Rise in spite of Weak Economy
JAN, 2012
Global
carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about three percent in a weak
global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, adding fresh urgency
to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South
Africa.
The study by the Global Carbon Project, an annual
report card on mankind's CO2 pollution, says a slowdown in emissions during the
2008-09 global financial crisis was a mere speed bump, and the gain in 2011
followed a 6 percent surge in 2010.
"The global financial crisis was an opportunity
to move the global economy away from a high-emissions trajectory. Our results
provide no indication of this happening," the authors say in the study
published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Delegates from nearly 200 nations attending major
talks in South Africa are struggling to make progress towards tougher steps to
curb soaring carbon pollution.
A small number of big developing nations were fuelling
the emissions growth, the study said, even though the global financial crisis
spawned long-term green stimulus plans by China,
South Korea, the United States and others to attempt to curtail CO2 output.
In the short-term, an improvement in the carbon
intensity of economies, a measure of carbon emissions per unit of GDP, has
stalled, according to the study, which analyzed data from the U.S. government,
United Nations and BP Statistics.
Global emissions from burning fossil fuels and cement
production grew 5.9 percent in 2010, compared with a 1.4 percent drop the year
before, the data showed.
In both years, emissions growth has been dominated by
emerging economies, with China's emissions jumping 10.4 percent in 2010, India
9.4 percent, Brazil 11.6 percent and South Korea 9.2
percent.
Emissions in 2010 also grew in some big developed
nations in absolute terms, rising 4.1 percent in the United States and 5.8
percent for the Russian Federation. Emissions from China, the world's top CO2
polluter, doubled between 2002 and 2010, the data showed.
COAL STILL KING
Globally, CO2 emissions in 2010 from coal totalled 41
percent, oil 34 percent, with gas and cement production comprising the rest.
The authors expressed concern over the reversal of a
long-term trend towards improving the carbon intensity of economies between
1970 and 2000. Improvement in carbon intensity stalled in 2009 and decreased
slightly in 2010.
"The return to growth after the (global
financial crisis) has only continued the deterioration in the fossil fuel
carbon intensity trend since 2000," the study's authors said.
They also pointed to the acceleration of
consumption-based emissions of domestic goods and services, but excluding
emissions from exports. In 2009 and 2010, there were large drops in
consumption-based emissions in developed nations.
In developing countries the reverse occurred and 2009
marked the first time that developing countries had higher consumption-based
emissions than developed countries, the authors said.
Pep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon
Project, told Reuters from Canberra, Australia, that economic stimulus
packages primed the rapid rebound in CO2 emissions.
"The economic stimulus packages were very
effective from an emissions point of view to get back to very quickly those
same levels of emissions from production of consumption."
A separate study published last month concluded there
was almost no chance of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius based on huge
investments in polluting power stations.
The study, also published in the journal Nature
Climate Change, looked at a number of scenarios on cutting emissions and the
long-term impacts on the planet.
In the most extreme scenario of immediately halting
emissions, a 2 degree Celsius rise is avoided.
Immediate annual cuts of 5 or 3 percent that lead to
emissions eventually falling to zero can also avoid a 2 degree Celsius rise.
Assuming the more likely scenario of a 3 percent annual reduction, delaying
this action by two or three decades drastically changed the picture, the study
said.
"The longer we leave it to make emissions fall,
the faster they have to fall and there comes a point where they can't fall fast
enough," one of the authors, Mike Raupach, a climate scientist with the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia,
GM quickly addresses Volt battery questions
DETROIT, Jan 7, 2012
(Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Thursday it has developed a proposed fix to the battery pack for the Chevrolet Volt to eliminate the risk of a fire being triggered days after a crash.
GM said it would strengthen structural protection for the 400-pound lithium-ion battery in the Volt by adding steel reinforcements and take other steps to prevent coolant fluid from leaking and triggering a fire.
U.S. safety regulators indicated they were ready to sign off on the relatively quick repairs for the Volt, heading off a costly distraction for the top U.S. automaker and the prospect of a safety recall on its highest profile vehicle.
GM has made the Volt the symbol of its determination to seize a leadership position in fuel economy and green technology, and its engineers have been racing to respond to a safety investigation by U.S. regulators since late last year.
"This remains a halo vehicle for us in technology and design," Mark Reuss, GM's chief of North American operations, told reporters.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe of the Volt's battery pack in November.
NHTSA, which has the power to review proposed safety fixes by automakers, said the changes to the battery pack developed by GM appear to protect the Volt from fires of the kind it found possible in its safety tests.
GM has maintained that the real-world safety of the Volt was never at risk. Executives repeated on Thursday that the automaker was confident in the safety of the lithium-ion cells supplied by Korea's LG Chem. Transportation officials have also said that the car is safe.
GM will notify Volt owners of the fixes in the coming days. Owners will be able to have Chevrolet dealerships conduct the needed repair work starting in February, the automaker said.
GM has made the Volt the symbol of its determination to seize a leadership position in fuel economy and green technology. The Volt has a gas-powered 1.4-liter engine to provide additional range after it has run about 40 miles on its battery.
.
Dec 2011
(Reuters)
- California's powerful air quality regulator on Wednesday proposed sweeping
new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, including putting
1.4 million electric, plug-in and hydrogen cars on the state's roads by 2025.
In
addition to curbing climate warming gases, the program will also save drivers
$22 billion in fuel costs, the state's Air Resources Board said.
The
proposals are part of the Golden State's aggressive plan to reduce climate
warming emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and come three weeks after the Obama
administration proposed doubling auto fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon
nationwide by 2025.
The
ARB will consider adoption of the rules at a meeting on January 26.
California
is the biggest U.S. car market and has had the distinction of being able to set
policy independent of federal rules, making it over the years into a laboratory
for change.
The
United States developed its new greenhouse gas standard for 2017 vehicle models
and beyond jointly with California, which has long had separate, more stringent
regulations. The new standard will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
vehicles by 34 percent compared to 2016 levels.
The
state also said that though new, fuel-sipping technologies will increase the
cost of a new vehicle by about $1,900, those costs will be more than offset by
$6,000 in fuel cost savings over the life of the car.
About
40 percent of California's greenhouse gases come from vehicles, and the state's
new rules also aim to stimulate production of so-called zero-emission vehicles,
or ZEVs, which include cars that run on electric batteries and fuel cells.
The
state wants ZEVs such as Nissan Motor Co Ltd's all-electric Leaf or plug-in
hybrids like General Motors' Chevrolet Volt to make up more than 15 percent of
new vehicle sales by 2025.
But,
the state said, plug-in hybrids would be transitional vehicles, adding that 87
percent of the cars on the road will have to be pure ZEVs by 2050 for the state
to achieve its goals.
The
target is an aggressive one considering that such vehicles make up well below 1
percent of the market, and California has been forced to scale back its ZEV
goals in the past because vehicle technology lagged the state's hopes for
putting clean cars on its roads and highways.
In
2008, the ARB reduced the number of pure ZEVs to 7,500 for the three years from
2012 to 2014 from a previous requirement of 25,000.
Since
then, however, automakers have stepped up their investment in more
fuel-efficient vehicles, including battery electric cars.