Documents drilling 24 results

"Limited availability of freshwater could become a stumbling block for rapid development of shale resources through hydraulic fracturing. Using information from the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, WRI provides the first global and country-specific resource to help stakeholders evaluate freshwater availability across shale plays worldwide. Innovation in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques is driving the rapid development of shale resources (which include shale gas, natural gas liquids, and tight oil) across the United States and Canada. Already, known shale deposits worldwide have significantly increased the volume of the world's natural gas and oil resources. Governments from Argentina and the United Kingdom, to Mexico and China, have started to explore the commercial viability of their shale reserves. The potential for expansion is huge: known shale gas deposits worldwide add 47 percent to the global technically recoverable natural gas resources, and underground stores of tight oil add 11 percent to the world's technically recoverable oil. But as countries escalate their shale exploration, limited availability of freshwater could become a stumbling block. Extracting shale resources requires large amounts of water for drilling and hydraulic fracturing. In most cases, these demands are met by freshwater, making companies developing shale significant users and managers of water at local and regional levels, often in competition with farms, households, and other industries. Although experts agree that critical environmental risks and impacts are associated with developing shale, the risks and impacts specific to surface and groundwater availability have been thinly documented. With Global Shale Gas Development: Water Availability and Business Risks, the World Resources Institute (WRI) fills this gap, providing the first publicly available, global and country-specific analysis to help evaluate freshwater availability across shale resources worldwide."

"Alors que la Commission européenne vient de rouvrir timidement la porte à une exploitation du gaz de schiste en Europe « à condition de respecter des “principes communs”, notamment sanitaires et environnementaux » (recommandation du 22 janvier 2014), quels enseignements peut-on tirer aujourd'hui de l'expérience notamment des États-Unis qui, les premiers, se sont lancés dans cette nouvelle voie énergétique il y a un peu plus d'une dizaine d'années ? Pierre Papon s'efforce ici de faire le point sur cet enjeu majeur qui a déjà commencé à bouleverser le paysage énergétique mondial, et qui pourrait avoir des conséquences économiques et géopolitiques majeures à moyen et long termes, s'appuyant en particulier sur la littérature la plus récente parue sur le sujet.Après avoir rappelé la nature et les conditions d'exploitation de ce gaz non conventionnel, ainsi que les projections très optimistes des États-Unis pour l'avenir, il souligne l'avantage économique que leur procure la production de gaz de schiste, à l'échelle nationale comme à l'échelle mondiale grâce aux gains de compétitivité induits dans certaines industries. Pierre Papon précise ensuite les préoccupations environnementales qui demeurent, et les alternatives techniques envisageables pour l'exploitation du gaz de schiste. Il présente enfin les enjeux et perspectives pour l'Europe et la France, sous réserve que d'autres voies de recherche puissent être explorées pour l'exploitation de cette ressource, tout en rappelant la nécessité d'une vigilance prospective en la matière — essentielle pour ne pas occulter les risques inhérents en ce domaine, mais également pour ne pas manquer une ouverture technique qui permettrait d'exploiter le gaz de schiste de ce côté de l'Atlantique."

"This article describes Dr Theo Colborn's legacy of inspiring complementary and synergistic environmental health research and advocacy. Colborn, a founder of endocrine disruption research, also stimulated study of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). In 2014, the United States led the world in oil and gas production, with fifteen million Americans living within one mile of an oil or gas well. Colborn pioneered efforts to understand and control the impacts of this sea change in energy production. In 2005, her research organization The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) developed a database of chemicals used in natural gas extraction and their health effects. This database stimulated novel scientific and social scientific research and informed advocacy by (1) connecting communities' diverse health impacts to chemicals used in natural gas development, (2) inspiring social science research on open-source software and hardware for citizen science, and (3) posing new scientific questions about the endocrine-disrupting properties of fracking chemicals."

"Over the past decade, there has been a surge in drilling for natural gas and oil in shale rock. Natural gas and oil extraction using high-volume, slickwater hydraulic fracturing from clustered multiwell pads using long, directionally drilled laterals (known by its popular name ‘fracking'), is an unconventional extraction process that is currently the focus of controversy. The process involves the injection of millions of gallons of water, chemical additives, and a proppant (sand and/or silica) at high pressure into a wellbore in order to create small fractures in the rock formations to allow natural gas (or oil) to be released. But for the lack of effective technology, this source of energy would have been tapped long ago. ..."

"Across the country, fracking—the extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing—is being touted as the nation's answer to energy independence and a fix for a flagging economy. Drilling companies assure us that the process is safe, politicians push through drilling legislation without a serious public-health debate, and those who speak out are marginalized, their silence purchased by gas companies and their warnings about the dangers of fracking stifled.

The Real Cost of Fracking pulls back the curtain on how this toxic process endangers the environment and harms people, pets, and livestock. Michelle Bamberger, a veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a pharmacologist, combine their expertise to show how contamination at drilling sites translates into ill health and heartbreak for families and their animals. By giving voice to the people at ground zero of the fracking debate, the authors vividly illustrate the consequences of fracking and issue an urgent warning to all of us: fracking poses a dire threat to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even our food supply.



Bamberger and Oswald reveal the harrowing experiences of small farmers who have lost their animals, their livelihoods, and their peace of mind, and of rural families whose property values have plummeted as their towns have been invaded by drillers. At the same time, these stories give us hope, as people band together to help one another and courageously fight to reclaim their communities.

The debate over fracking speaks to a core dilemma of contemporary life: we require energy to live with modern conveniences, but what degree of environmental degradation, health risks, and threats to our food supply are we willing to accept to obtain that energy? As these stories demonstrate, the stakes couldn't be higher, and this is an issue that none of us can afford to ignore."

"Al inicio de la actual década un nuevo espectro comenzó a sobrevolar Europa. Tenía su origen en Estados Unidos y se llamaba fracking, en castellano fractura hidráulica. De creer a sus apologistas, el “nuevo maná” que estaba devolviendo a los Estados Unidos a la posición privilegiada que había ostentado hasta la década de 1970 -ser el mayor productor de petróleo del mundo- era una esperanza para las compañías gasísticas y petroleras y un espanto para los colectivos ambientalistas. Las nuevas tecnologías de perforación horizontal con multifractura hidráulica han permitido acceder a yacimientos hasta ahora inaccesibles de petróleo y gas que han revertido por el momento el declive mantenido y constante de la producción de petróleo y gas estadounidense durante las últimas décadas. Este incremento es importante y ha dado un cierto respiro al contrastado desplome de la producción mundial de hidrocarburos. No obstante, las proyecciones hechas por los operadores y por algunas agencias gubernamentales según los cuales esas tecnologías son una “revolución” que abre una nueva e interminable era de “independencia energética” para los Estados Unidos, que dejará de ser un país importador de combustibles fósiles y se convertirá en exportador de energía, carecen absolutamente de fundamento. Al fin y al cabo, los combustibles fósiles son recursos finitos y esos pronósticos desorbitados son inalcanzables. Este libro, además de describir los aspectos medioambientales que rodean a la agresiva técnica del fracking, aporta datos y argumentos para demostrarlo."

"Depending on whom you ask, hydraulic fracturing -commonly known as “fracking”-is either the harbinger of a new era of plentiful, cheap, clean energy or a mortal threat to health, safety, and the environment. The oil and gas industries have drastically expanded their use of this controversial practice during the past decade, and trade unions have taken stands on both sides of this issue. Supporters see fracking as a source of jobs and a driver of economic development while opponents argue that fracking is harmful to communities, dangerous for workers, and ecologically unsound. Most of the labor movement, however, has thus far remained on the sidelines of this important debate.

This study-Trade Unions for Energy Democracy's first working paper-provides the information trade unionists need to take a stand: an introduction to the shale gas industry and the movement which seeks to stop its expansion, an overview of unions' perspectives on the issue, and a consideration of whether unions should support a global moratorium on fracking. While the health and environmental consequences of fracking are not well understood, the evidence suggests that its risks are serious and unavoidable."

"This is an interview conducted with an oil and gas worker who was employed in the industry from 1993 to 2012. He requested that his name not be used. From 2008 to 2012, he drilled wells for a major operator in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Bradford County is the center of the Marcellus shale gas boom in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2012, he formed a consulting business to assist clients who need information on the details of gas and oil drilling operations. In this interview, the worker describes the benefits and difficulties of the hard work involved in drilling unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania. In particular, he outlines the safety procedures that were in place and how they sometimes failed, leading to workplace injuries. He provides a compelling view of the trade-offs between the economic opportunities of working on a rig and the dangers and stresses of working long hours under hazardous conditions."

"This report maps out the lobbying offensive in Brussels to capture the political process around shale gas development, and to block proposals to tighten regulation of the industry. This report exposes the key players involved – their targets and tactics – and examines the activities of the main shale gas lobby groups and individual companies involved. It reveals a web of lobbying activity, incorporating industry players from both sides of the Atlantic."