There is a potentially dramatic change in the location and availability of natural gas globally. If all comes to pass as predicted, it would alter the geopolitical power of some countries like Russia, while lessening American, and possibly Chinese, Indian, and European, dependence on foreign oil and gas. Unlike normal natural gas, which is often found with oil fields (as well as alone), this “unconventional” gas is embedded in shale, a sedimentary rock located thousands of feet below the surface.
There was no easy way to get such gas out since it was trapped in dense clay rock until a few years ago. Halliburton devised a way to not only fracture the rock to release the gas, but to drill horizontally so each well could access much more gas. This made it economically feasible to go after the gas.Most of the shale gas that is being developed is in the US.
No one doubts that, environmentally speaking, natural gas is the least unfriendly of the fossil fuels or that it leaves the lightest footprint where it is extracted.
Two major concerns have arisen: one involves the use of certain toxic chemicals like benzene to fracture apart the clay of the shale (called “fracking”). The fear is that a spill or mistake could contaminate the land or, more likely the water table through which the gas well passes on its way to the shale.
The second is the unusually large quantity of water that is required to drill and frack a well that can be up to 15,000- 16,000 feet long. It can take a million gallons of water or more. Even if some of the water can be recycled, you’re still talking about a major withdrawal from the aquifer.
A million gallons of water is not a HUGE amount (geologists I have talked to relate it to swimming pool volume) if you live in the verdant Eastern seaboard or much of Europe. But it adds up especially when it comes to healthy flow and wildlife. It is a critical amount if you live in the American West or North Africa or much of Asia.
One of the most desirable shale deposits in the US is the Marcellus play which stretches diagonally from upstate New York through Pennsylvania into West Virginia. Sober environmentalists, hysterical summer residents, hyperventilating politicians, and people who just plain old don’t trust any energy company have all been campaigning against drilling but they are fighting a losing battle.
Millions of acres of the New York City watershed have already been safeguarded, but most land remains in private hands and the money is proving irresistible in this economically depressed region. According the New York Times, “There are already about 13,000 active oil and gas wells in New York, about half of them already using hydraulic fracturing.” There are also a huge number of wells over in Pennsylvania, which is much more pro-drilling than New York State, and whose streams and tributaries also feed into the water supply of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
In a major decision, in late September, the New York State environmental regulator issued what they saw as acceptable guidelines for drilling wells to extract the natural gas of the Marcellus. The environmentalists do have one greatly important point — current federal standards and previous practices should concern anyone who cares about water safety.
“We need to have a zero-risk policy here, and it is not appropriate to allow drilling in such a unique and extraordinarily valuable resource,” said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The record in other states is so abysmal, and it doesn’t take much to do better than other states.” (NYT)
Although drilling won’t be stopped, it would serve everyone much better if the state required area environmental impacts, extremely high drilling standards, emergency plans, fail-safes, and clean-up procedures to be in place before the rush starts in earnest. Energy companies can call their toxic mix a corporate secret, but they would be better served with greater transparency.
It is also true that the volume of water requested by gas companies has been, to be kind, extravagant. A request for a million gallons a day for drilling purposes by energy giant Chesapeake was shot down by the interstate Delaware River Basin Commission a couple weeks ago. Chesapeake withdrew the request.
The role of water is rarely discussed in energy development. But huge amounts of water are also needed for cleaner coal plants (emissions control comes at the expense of water), biofuel, and solar. Water needs to be part of the equation from the beginning of any energy development.
Thankfully, there are groups working feverishly in New York and Pennsylvania to iron out procedures to protect water, limit water use (much more can be recycled that often happens), and to figure out what to do with the contaminated water that cannot be recycled.
Their work can help protect and set standards for those around the world who follow.
