Wednesday 16 October 2013

Links for 'key areas of investigation'





  • Seismic activity in subsurface geology and potential consequences

    • BBC article with video on seismic activity in Blackpool, UK.-
    (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15550458)
    Short article by the Guardian on the same topic-
    (http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/01/blackpool-earthquake-tremors-gas-drilling)
    BSGS report 'Fracking and Earthquake Hazard'-
    (http://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/research/earthquake_hazard_shale_gas.html)

  • Likelihood of ground water contamination; concerning sources from both methane leakages and from the fracking fluid used

    • Scientific American 'Groundwater Contamination May End the Gas Fracking Boom-
    (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=groundwater-contamination-may-end-the-gas-fracking-boom)
    Light-hearted article by Prorepublica on heavy metal ground water contamination-
    (http://www.propublica.org/article/new-study-finds-high-levels-of-arsenic-in-groundwater-near-fracking-sites)
    Scientific paper: Methane Contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing-
    (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3100993/)


  • Potentially harmful chemical additives used in fracking fluid; particularly concentrating on American Legislature that allows companies to not disclose the composition of their fluid mixture

    • Cool website with lots of info-
    (http://www.dangersoffracking.com/)
    Nature article on disclosing content of fracking fluid-
    (http://www.nature.com/news/secrets-of-fracking-fluids-pave-way-for-cleaner-recipe-1.13719)
    Science Direct- Regulating hydraulic fracturing in shale gas plays- The case of Texas
    (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511001893)


  • The consequences of elevated fluid pressure in wells and possible 'blowouts'

    • CBC News- Fracking to blame for well blowout near Innisfail-
    (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/fracking-to-blame-for-well-blowout-near-innisfail-1.1191497)
    YouTube video of blowout Canton, Bradford County, USA-
    (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMUY9gdRSQ)



  • Sourcing the millions of litres of water required to run one active well and the potential threats on local hydrogeology and ecology

    • Carbon Briefing blog on water use-
    (http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/08/carbon-briefing-could-shale-gas-suck-our-rivers-dry/)
    Energy Facts: How Much Water Does Fracking for Shale Gas Consume?
    (http://theenergycollective.com/jessejenkins/205481/friday-energy-facts-how-much-water-does-fracking-shale-gas-consume)
     'Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources, separating the frack from fiction'; there is a link in the text to full scientific report-
    http://www.pacinst.org/publication/hydraulic-fracturing-and-water-resources-separating-the-frack-from-the-fiction/

  • The disposal of spent fracking fluid

    • Blog- Where does fracking water go?
    http://blogs.reuters.com/muniland/2011/12/30/where-does-fracking-water-go/
    Scientific paper, DukeSpace- Wastewater generation and disposal from Natural Gas Fracking-
    (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFsQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdukespace.lib.duke.edu%2Fdspace%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10161%2F5320%2FLewis_MP2.pdf&ei=vSFfUsvGEbCO7Ab34oGYCQ&usg=AFQjCNFyXVJrW-tw4HOc5pEc0I6EWnzJoA&sig2=Lw4HVIguoriGZ3KzHlUTZA)

  • The safety of fracking...Is it all about good practice?

    • Blog; Scientific American-
    (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2012/01/25/guest-post-water-contamination-fracking-is-not-the-problem/)
    Frackwire; Fracking and well casing failure-
    (http://frackwire.com/well-casing-failure/)
    Online Wall Street Journal- Well Sealing cited in Leaks, Not Fracking-
    (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323998604578567853193607238)




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    2 comments:

    1. Anson W. Mackay20 October 2013 at 23:08

      This is certainly an interesting and useful set of UCLs on the fracking debate. Although mentioned earlier that there was not that much in the peer-review literature, what topics are getting peer-reviewed and what topics are not covered adequately?

      ReplyDelete
    2. Grace Cosgrove23 October 2013 at 09:40

      Currently, there are 6 main topics that are most popular in the scientific literature, I've put them below-

      1) Ground water contamination through methane migration. This subject has had the most coverage in peer-reviewed articles and journals.
      2) Monitoring the fracking process and hazard mitigation.
      3) How to optimise results and improve productivity
      4) The possibility of fracking sites being used for CCS (Carbon Capture Sequestration)
      5) Ecology and Water Conservation, there are a number of articles focussing on many different aspects of this. Including interesting work on the potential reuse of treated fracking fluid for irrigation.
      6) There are a few articles on the Economic significance of fracking

      These articles have all been published recently (2011/2012) and the number of articles is still relatively small. I'm sure fracking will be on-going subject of research for the foreseeable future.

      Further research is needed into:
      1) The removal of toxic chemical additives from fracking fluid
      2) Reducing emission of VOC's (Volatile Organic Carbons)
      3) Understanding the complex formation of fracture network, particularly in relation to anisotropy in shale
      4) Improvements in site-specific monitoring

      ReplyDelete

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