UK goes full speed ahead on shale gas fracking.

[ferrelhadley]

I am writing about fracking.

Is that not clear?

No.

 

[Diamond]

Which part would you like further clarification on?

 

[ferrelhadley]

Which part would you like further clarification on?

None of it. You are just talking shite.

 

[Diamond]

Very good.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

 

[yardbird]

I'm two villages away from Balcombe.
They have really got it together with the media in an effective campaign against fracking.
Why?
There will be no fracking in Balcombe, just drilling for 'ordinary' deposits.
Get a grip ffs.

 

[ddraig]

how can you be so sure?

 

[yardbird]

how can you be so sure?

There will be no fracking in Balcombe.
Protest on the off-chance?
I kind of think that protesting about something that isn't happening is counter productive and ill conceived.

 

[ddraig]

ok just wondered
yes there is of course the element of a set piece with some of them there
i do think many are genuinely concerned about the water table and other effects of fracking so are compelled to do sonmething
do you think the police should protect big business as they do?

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Who's said that fracking 'will not' take place at Balcombe?

 

[yardbird]

Who's said that fracking 'will not' take place at Balcombe?

Leaving aside the fact that an earthquake in Balcombe may well have beneficial results - a disruptive protest on spec?

 

[ferrelhadley]

I'm two villages away from Balcombe.
There will be no fracking in Balcombe, just drilling for 'ordinary' deposits.
Get a grip ffs.

They will drill a test well just like the one that was drilled by Conoco in 86. They will find the same thing, the reservoir is not productive without artificially increasing the permeability. How do you think they will increase the permeability?

 

[camouflage]

The main animation behind the anti-fracking movement strikes me as being fairly primitive, and I don't mean that in a pejorative way.

There's an idea of one literally compromising the ground beneath.

But, if truth be told, that's been going on for donkeys years. There's an almost amusing disconnect between an ideal of some solid earth and some compromised "fracked" territory.

It appeals to a visceral sense of the ground we tread on, our very notion of concrete, solid existence.

And, of course, it's complete nonsense.

Yes, all this having a problem with millions of tonnes of mystery chemical cocktails blasted at high pressure deep into the varied geological complexity of the Earth and the water-table it contains beneath our feet in order to extend the well-known and understood mechanisms by which we undermine our own sustainability as a species in this environment all at the behest of insidious American energy lobbies and venal politicos is just silly superstition embraced by the usual gaggle of pink-dreadlocked fire-jugglers and not a serious concern at all.

Hahahah, how silly of them, how naive they are, let us roll our eyes, etcetera.

 

[camouflage]

tbf, I find it a little annoying how this has become just another issue for the pink-dredds brigade to come and wave their placards and beat their bongos, the Protest Clique never really achaive anything in my opinion, just make it so people like Diamond can dismiss the issue at hand as just more silliness to give placard wavers something to do. The issue itself, as usual, get's lost in the dust as it all becomes about scenes of cops dragging of the kool kids, as if the question at hand is all about the ham-fisted manner in which the idiot cops manhandle the 'alternative community'.

Fuck all that, Massive Fucking Distraction.

It was the same before Tony & George's Massive Conspiraloon Terrorist Invasion of Iraq for instance... the black-and-purple-leggings-sporters turn up to have their street festival and all of a sudden the rest of the country can go back to sleep safe in the knowledge that if Activists Circus are getting stuck in then there's probably nothing serious to worry about and Tony "Cuntface" Blair isn't a war-criminal on the verge of involving our humble former imperial-core in a pointless and atavistic atrocity-laden war after all. /rant.

Please excuse me colorful activist types, it's not you... you mean well at least, it's the media effect you have on the issues you march against/(or for, or whatever). It lets idiots like Diamond think they're the 'Sensible Ones' with their profoundly unsustainable crazy whackadoodle not-joined-up-at-the-ends mad-cap schemes, and it twatting-well pisses me right off.

 

[Dr Jon]

tbf, I find it a little annoying...
*snip*

reminds me of this:

 

[ferrelhadley]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa..._data/file/66170/uk-onshore-prospectivity.pdf
Anyone who is really bored\ very nerdy can read up on the Geological Assessment of the region. For Sussex it is in the section named Weald Basin. It is basically high api oil from a Jurrasic source rock and appears to be in carbonate reservoirs. The reputation of carbonate reservoirs is that it can be very hit and miss in terms of whether the oil can flow. But hydrofracking and using acids to help dissolve carbonate you can get a more guaranteed economic flow rate. I suspect, given the high price of oil, there is likely to be some economic oil reserves available in the UK, especially in the South.

Whether there is economic gas is a bit of a wild one. It exists, but for all the hype around Bakken and Eagle Ford in the US there are far more areas with shales that are deep enough but are not really that productive. It takes a special set of circumstances and in the US the above ground factors are also far more favourable.


https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/UKpromote/onshore_paper/UK_onshore_shalegas.pdf

 

[Dr Jon]

Shale Is A Pipedream Sold To Greater Fools

 

[coley]

Shale Is A Pipedream Sold To Greater Fools

Well worth a read, if just for this;

"See? Estimates from the US Energy Information Administration were slashed by 90% within a few years time. That makes one wonder what role the EIA plays in this. Is this a 90% innocent mistake or have for instance US companies (Halliburton, anyone?) perhaps made a killing on investments (based on these estimates) by the Polish government that is now left holding the empty bag? What would you think?"

Osbourne & Co please note!

 

[kabbes]

tbf, I find it a little annoying how this has become just another issue for the pink-dredds brigade to come and wave their placards and beat their bongos, the Protest Clique never really achaive anything in my opinion, just make it so people like Diamond can dismiss the issue at hand as just more silliness to give placard wavers something to do. The issue itself, as usual, get's lost in the dust as it all becomes about scenes of cops dragging of the kool kids, as if the question at hand is all about the ham-fisted manner in which the idiot cops manhandle the 'alternative community'.

Fuck all that, Massive Fucking Distraction.

It was the same before Tony & George's Massive Conspiraloon Terrorist Invasion of Iraq for instance... the black-and-purple-leggings-sporters turn up to have their street festival and all of a sudden the rest of the country can go back to sleep safe in the knowledge that if Activists Circus are getting stuck in then there's probably nothing serious to worry about and Tony "Cuntface" Blair isn't a war-criminal on the verge of involving our humble former imperial-core in a pointless and atavistic atrocity-laden war after all. /rant.

Please excuse me colorful activist types, it's not you... you mean well at least, it's the media effect you have on the issues you march against/(or for, or whatever). It lets idiots like Diamond think they're the 'Sensible Ones' with their profoundly unsustainable crazy whackadoodle not-joined-up-at-the-ends mad-cap schemes, and it twatting-well pisses me right off.

For four and a half years, we've been fighting the exploration (really speculation) for oil in Leith Hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The transport of the equipment for the speculative drilling will end up destroying an historic sunken lane -- the very lane that the Tour of Britain cycle race will be coming up next month and a road much valued by cyclists all round the country for its unusual beauty.

Granting permission for the speculative drilling will also establish that there is literally no land safe in this country, because this area is protected by both Green Belt and AONB legislation, as well as having highways issues and causing numerous other problems elsewhere -- if they can speculate here then they can literally do it anywhere, for no more reason than there being a tiny chance of producing an incredibly tiny amount of oil.

Anyway, the approach to fighting this has been a series of legal challenges, and we're faced with more years' worth to come. There has been little publicity precisely because we haven't staged marches and festivals. Our route has been considerably more difficult and taken a huge amount of personal time (and money). But four and a half years in, they still aren't drilling. Whereas in Balcombe, which cropped up over four years later, they already are.

The marches and the protests look good but sadly they seem to achieve very little. They do achieve publicity, and publicity can be useful. But it is only useful if you can convert it into real support for taking real action. Otherwise, it's just a way for people to feel good without doing anything.

 

[coley]

For four and a half years, we've been fighting the exploration (really speculation) for oil in Leith Hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The transport of the equipment for the speculative drilling will end up destroying an historic sunken lane -- the very lane that the Tour of Britain cycle race will be coming up next month and a road much valued by cyclists all round the country for its unusual beauty.

Granting permission for the speculative drilling will also establish that there is literally no land safe in this country, because this area is protected by both Green Belt and AONB legislation, as well as having highways issues and causing numerous other problems elsewhere -- if they can speculate here then they can literally do it anywhere, for no more reason than there being a tiny chance of producing an incredibly tiny amount of oil.

Anyway, the approach to fighting this has been a series of legal challenges, and we're faced with more years' worth to come. There has been little publicity precisely because we haven't staged marches and festivals. Our route has been considerably more difficult and taken a huge amount of personal time (and money). But four and a half years in, they still aren't drilling. Whereas in Balcombe, which cropped up over four years later, they already are.

The marches and the protests look good but sadly they seem to achieve very little. They do achieve publicity, and publicity can be useful. But it is only useful if you can convert it into real support for taking real action. Otherwise, it's just a way for people to feel good without doing anything.

This one
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/a...32578/Leith-Hill-Surrey-walk-of-the-week.html

Nowhere's bliddy safe.

 

[kabbes]

This one
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/a...32578/Leith-Hill-Surrey-walk-of-the-week.html

Nowhere's bliddy safe.

Near enough. A few miles away at most. You will likely be able to see the rig from there (at least from Windy Gap car park and from a number of spots on the route), certainly. And you will struggle to get to that spot once there are 1000+ HGVs travelling up and down the narrow, windy country roads you need to navigate to get there.

 

[coley]

Near enough. A few miles away at most. You will likely be able to see the rig from there (at least from Windy Gap car park and from a number of spots on the route), certainly. And you will struggle to get to that spot once there are 1000+ HGVs travelling up and down the narrow, windy country roads you need to navigate to get there.

All for hypothetical amounts of oil, best of luck,though its easy to see why people will take "direct action" to protect places like that.

 

[camouflage]

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...e-fracking-protests-government-tells-planners

Was surprised not to have seen any comments on this by the way, finally, absolute and irrefutable proof that the idiots are winning, the country's going to hell in a hand-basket (whatever the fuck a hand-basket is) and the United States finally does pwn the Earth and all the nations and their governments in it... somewhat like a (how ju say in Ingleez) Rent-Boy.

So here it is once more this time louder...

Planning authorities have been banned from considering whether renewable energy plants would be a better fit for their communities, if they receive an application for a fracking mine.
Documents released by the government stress that local authorities should instead recognise that "mineral extraction is essential to local and national economies". This is despite a Department for Communities and Local Government document highlighting 16 environmental risks linked to the process, including seismic shocks and the appearance of radioactive surface water.

the Pimpocracy marches on, fat greasy business man lookin for a bit of fun while he's in town is now stuffing filthy one dollar bills down the front of Britains collective panties while we wear a giant Tory gimp-mask, mouth zipped and eyes blind-folded.

To be honest it makes me fear for African nations, fuck knows what the likes of Hallibarstards are pumping into the land down there were the politics is even cheaper and easier to buy than Britain and Europe generally and water-security literally falls from the sky in some parts significantly less often. Now the US Corporate speculative state has AFRICOM and the 'war on terror' against their Jihadist allies 'enemies', all topped off with a half-African president to help ram it all through.

I wonder how this drive to Frack the Earth is playing out in other continents generally actually, and in the 3rd World particularly.... the future is looking pretty grim right now.

 

[ferrelhadley]

 

[ferrelhadley]

Analogies Used to Estimate Shale Gas Potential Reserves: The UK shale gas industry is in its infancy, and ahead of production testing there are no reliable indicators of potential productivity of its most prospective Jurassic, Carboniferous and Cambrian shale gas plays. For that reason, resource estimates can only be made by analogy with producing shale gas plays in America, although again ahead of drilling, hydraulic fracturing and flow testing these analogies may ultimately prove to be invalid.”

“There are no known studies focused on the gas content of UK shales.” Which doesn’t disprove the possibility. But doesn’t prove the potential exists either.
“Shale gas is currently produced in significant volumes only in the US and that success has raised interest in the UK potential. The untested shale rock volume in the UK is very large, however, more drilling, fracture stimulating and production testing is necessary to prove that shale gas development is technically and economically viable
“Even if one assumes that the American shale gas producing analogies are valid, many of the operating conditions are different in the UK. In the UK, land owners do not own mineral rights, so there is less incentive to support development, and local authorities must grant planning consent. The US has relatively permissive environmental regulations, low population densities, tax incentives, existing infrastructure, well developed supply chains and access to technology. Cumulatively, these factors mean that it is far from certain that the conditions that underpin shale gas production in North America will be replicable in the UK.

​

https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/UKpromote/onshore_paper/UK_onshore_shalegas.pdf

 

[kabbes]

^^they similarly tried to wave through the Leith Hill speculation. They used the wrong name for the site and kept it very under the radar. We discovered it by chance at the last minute, otherwise it would have been a done deal.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Britain would be making a big mistake if it ruled out fracking for natural gas on environmental grounds, David Cameron has said, adding that the UK could be "missing out big time" on cheaper energy bills and new jobs because of worries about the impact on the countryside.

Give me strength! So when the the UK's been fracked to fuck, the countryside's fucked, the water's fucked, our energy bills have risen, higher unemployment - can we hold you fully responsible & punishable by decapitation?!

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/08/fracking-ban-cameron

 

[ddraig]

yes!
"need to encourage it"
oh and lies trying to get ££'s in peoples eyes

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=23670

Cameron corrected over fracking comment

09 August 2013

Downing Street moved swiftly to correct the Prime Minister David Cameron after he claimed that every time a new fracking well was created the local community would immediately get £1m. Number 10 insisted this was a slip of the tongue.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Well worth the read from the Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...neath-our-feeth&WT.mc_id=SA_sharetool_Twitter

 

[Dr Jon]

KunstlerCast 241 -- Snake Oil: Richard Heinberg on the Great Shale Snooker