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The Forum > Article Comments > What is it about coal-seam gas? > Comments

What is it about coal-seam gas? : Comments

By Don Aitkin, published 13/4/2015

I wish Mr Baird and his Government every success in persuading the citizens of NSW that there really is a problem with the supply of gas to NSW people, that it won't go away, and that exploiting CSG can be done, responsibly.

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I live in northern NSW, in Byron Shire, so I am surrounded by signs that state what percentage of the local town's population want their town to be "CSG free" (usually over 90%).There was a house-to-house referendum but no independent tally of the votes (as far as I know).

Most of this anti-CSG activity round here is due to an activist organisation called Lock The Gate. They have done a brilliant job at fear mongering and spreading dubious facts about CSG. There are activist groups like the Knitting Nannas that like to block access to potential CSG sites.

There in no discussion from the activists about the report from The Chief Scientist and Engineer of New South Wales. I very much doubt that any of them have ever read the report or even know it exists.

They can get away with this activism up here because we don't have reticulated gas in this region so no-one has piped gas stoves, gas hot water heating or gas space heating. Some use expensive bottled gas but most use electricity. So if NSW runs out of gas we will not be affected.

If Sydney loses it's gas supply, I suspect that Lock The Gate will be held responsible - with perhaps some consequences. Time will tell.
Posted by Martin N, Monday, 13 April 2015 10:21:02 AM
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New advances in desalination by those clever Dutch, have shown it is possible to turn salt water into 97% potable water; and just for around a quarter of the cost of conventional reverse osmosis!

Meaning, the problematic salt water sometimes associated with CSG, may in fact be a virtual godsend!

But particularly cash strapped farmers facing yet another drought.

And given this NEW water is applied as subsoil applications via tapes laid directly under the actual seedbed, for around quarter of the water of conventional topside! Affordable and or available as compensation for any farmer, who may have had his or her own water supplies contaminated in any way by nearby CSG extraction!?

Besides, this gas once scrubbed and piped as described by Don, can be fed into very local ceramic fuel cells, which will then produce the worlds cheapest energy, [80% energy coefficient] and free hot water, all while producing mostly water vapor as the exhaust!

Using the brains we were born with and solving modest problems seems better use of our valuable time, than complaining like, we'll all be runed, echoing around in Hanrahan's head!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 13 April 2015 12:26:20 PM
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I have never been too worried by fracking. The thousands of feet separation between any useful water table & the shale does render it pretty safe.

On the other hand the close proximity between coal seams & water table was always a worry. It is obvious that accidents are much more likely.

This new Dutch development, if it proves as good as is claimed will allow a full clean up if probable accidents do occur.

Our greenie "friends" are sure to lie & cheat, trying to separate us from a comfortable life, but thank god, they are bound to fail.
Posted by Hasbeen, Monday, 13 April 2015 2:09:09 PM
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"What a muddle. Oh, and everyone on the Green side seems to have forgotten that gas is a much smaller producer of carbon dioxide than coal"
"The gas itself is methane, with other constituents that have to be extracted before the gas can be sent by pipelines to you and me."

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is roughly 20 -30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Currently there is a methane plume visible from space hovering over New Mexico in the USA that has been caused by years of accidental/fugitive and purposeful release of methane into the atmosphere associated with fracking and natural gas extraction. NASA scientists couldn't believe the data when they first saw it and double checked it.

It has been described as a $2 billion leak problem.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/delaware-sized-gas-plume-over-west-illustrates-the-cost-of-leaking-methane/2014/12/29/d34c3e6e-8d1f-11e4-a085-34e9b9f09a58_story.html

In Australia we have methane bubbling out of the Condomine River. Farmers and miners can't agree whether it was caused by the CSG industry - and we will never know for sure because no baseline studies were done.

Nevermind "Gasland" we have local footage of flammable water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMe59e9Lcco
Posted by BJelly, Monday, 13 April 2015 3:18:45 PM
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Actually, it might well be to our advantage to have a hiatus in gas
production at present. The more of the existing production that we use
the less that can be exported.

When we get to the point where the stove won't light when mum puts on
the dinner, the law will change the next day, exports will be banned
and we will have enough gas to keep us going while we build the next
energy regime no matter what it is.
Posted by Bazz, Monday, 13 April 2015 4:49:59 PM
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CSG is great...
If you don't mind putting our drinking water at risk.
If you don't mind eating contaminated food grown with said contaminated water.
If you don't mind families getting sick.
If you don't mind farmers lands destroyed.
If you don't mind fire coming out of your taps and wells.

Yes poisoning the drinking water for profit or to keep warm is a great idea, I wish I'd thought of that.
Even better, why don't we all just kill ourselves right now.. No?
It could be a good idea too if we market it or sell it to the people the right way??
Yes, we should all just kill ourselves and our children right now.
We'll find something to unify the people like the environment and tell everyone the planet is overpopulated and unsustainable and then that way we can take away everyone's rights as well..
We'll be able to create new laws and fines so we can take more from the slaves, oops sorry I meant people.

You really should've watched Gasland I and II before you wrote this article.
You don't need to be a greenie to identify stupid.
- DONT MESS WITH THE WATER -
Posted by Armchair Critic, Thursday, 16 April 2015 5:22:27 PM
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