Scotland Bans Fracking, Forever

[DemMomma4Sanders]

Source: OiPrice

The Scottish National Party’s energy minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said he and his government remained “deeply skeptical” on the merits of fracking and confirmed that the practice would not be allowed in Scotland until there is clear evidence that it does not cause health-related or environmental harm.

Maurice Golden, a newly elected member of parliament for the Conservative party, argued in favor of fracking, and said the “leftwing cabal” of the three united liberal parties had been “ignoring” scientific evidence regarding the practice, which, if allowed, would add jobs and boost the economy.

The Scottish vote comes right after local leaders in the North Yorkshire region of the United Kingdom approved industrial tests that would allow fracking in the country for the first time in more than five years.

Related: Cash Deprived Venezuela Can’t Pay For Oil Imports, Leaving Tankers Stranded

The Guardian reported that the go-ahead “swept aside” vocal protests from residents and environmentalists who feared “catastrophic seismic activity, health problems, and pollution” if hydraulic fracturing was introduced.

Read more: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Scotland-Bans-Fracking-Forever.html

[Jack Bone]

1. Send this directly to The Greatest Page!! nt

[TubbersUK]

2. K & R n/t

[lovemydog]

3. Scotland also kicked Donald Trump

in the butt by denying him a golf course monstrosity.

Three cheers for Scotland!

[laserhaas]

4. Woo Hoo

[A Little Weird]

5. Excellent!

I'm glad some governments put people before profits.

[Jack Bone]

6. kick (I've already Rec'd)

[valerief]

7. Good for the Scots! nt

[sofa king]

8. I can hear the burr in the headline.

I imagine a Highlander in a kilt, raised fist, shouting "forevedrdrdrdrdrdrdr!"

[Herman4747]

9. Now if Hillary would just stop exporting fracking to other countries... n/t

[christx30]

10. An entire country robbed of the chance

To get fire directly from the kitchen taps. So convenient, when you're trying to light a cigarette, and you can't find matches.

Just kidding. This is wonderful. I wish states here in the US could enact a ban like this. Too many special interests getting in the way.

[happyslug]

11. Scotland may be the only place in Europe where fracking MAY be profitable

Last edited Sun Jun 12, 2016, 12:48 PM - Edit history (2)

You must understand what Natural Gas Fracking is used to obtain. The Natural Gas had been Algae prior to when Europe and North American Continent collided and formed the Appalachian Mountains. Subsequent to that collision, Europe and North America broke off from each other, with Europe taking part of the Appalachian Mountains chain with it (That is the Highlands of Scotland).

The main question on the Appalachian Mountains is while HOW they were formed is quite understood, but what made then go back up when Europe and North America separated is not. Do to subsequent movement of the earth parts of the Appalachian Mountains are now separate mountains, these are the Ozark mountains of Arkansas and the Highlands of Scotland.

By about 300 million years ago (Pennsylvanian Period) Africa was approaching the North American craton. The collisional belt spread into the Ozark-Ouachita region and through the Marathon Mountains area of Texas. Continent vs. continent collision raised the Appalachian-Ouachita chain to a lofty mountain range on the scale of the present-day Himalaya. The massive bulk of Pangea was completed near the end of the Paleozoic Era (Permian Period) when Africa (Gondwana) plowed into the continental agglomeration, with the Appalachian-Ouachita mountains near the core.

Pangea began to break up about 220 million years ago, in the Early Mesozoic Era (Late Triassic Period). As Pangea rifted apart a new passive tectonic margin was born and the forces that created the Appalachian, Ouachita, and Marathon Mountains were stilled. Weathering and erosion prevailed, and the mountains began to wear away.

By the end of the Mesozoic Era, the Appalachian Mountains had been eroded to an almost flat plain. It was not until the region was uplifted during the Cenozoic Era that the distinctive topography of the present formed.[5] Uplift rejuvenated the streams, which rapidly responded by cutting downward into the ancient bedrock. Some streams flowed along weak layers that define the folds and faults created many millions of years earlier. Other streams downcut so rapidly that they cut right across the resistant folded rocks of the mountain core, carving canyons across rock layers and geologic structures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Appalachians

Map of the GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS Of the Appalachian Mountains:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Appalachians

In Pennsylvania, a heart bed of Fracking, all of the fracking has occurred either in the Appalachian Mountains or WEST of those mountains, none east of those mountains (for there is NO deep Natural Gas East of those Mountains to frack for).



The Red dots are fracking wells. In Southern Pennsylvania almost all are WEST of Allegheny Mountain (the Eastern Continental divide, East of that Mountain rivers flow directly to the Atlantic, West of that divide, waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico). The Red dots along the Northern border of Pennsylvania are in areas that flow into the Atlantic. Most of the Appalachian Mountains in Southern Pennsylvania has NO Fracking at the present time:

On the below National map, the Marcellus shell is shown including the Appalachian Mountains, the Eastern end of that Shell follows Blue Mountain, the first ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. There are little if any "tight gas" (the more accurate term for the gas being drilled for with fracking) outside of the areas in color (The Appalachian Mountains, from the south, enter Pennsylvania going South to North, then turns East to West just to the north of Harrisburg and Allentown and head into New Jersey:



Now, some fracking has occurred in Europe, one well in Poland has so high a Nitrogen content that is was deems unprofitable no matter what the price was for natural gas (took more energy to remove the nitrogen then you obtain in the remaining natural gas from that well):

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/12/polands-shale-gas-revolution-evaporates-in-face-of-environmental-protests

First, what is shale gas? Ask this question, and you will be told: “Shut up, it’s methane.” But is it really? The composition of shale gas is something of a state secret in the US, but information about the gas produced from the nine Polish shale gas test projects did leak out, and it’s not pretty: Polish shale gas turned out to be so high in nitrogen that it does not even burn. Technology exists to clean up gas that is, say, 6% nitrogen, but Polish shale gas is closer to 50% nitrogen, and, given high production costs, low yields, rapid depletion and low wellhead pressure, cleaning it up to bring it up to spec (which is 1% nitrogen) would most likely result in a net waste of energy.

http://peakoil.com/production/orlov-shale-gas-the-view-from-russia

Some more on the problems with Fracking:

http://www.endofcrudeoil.com/2012/02/shale-gas-development-in-united-states.html

Map of MArcellus Shell in Pennyslvania, notice NONE East or south of the Appalachian Mountains:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8hnJ8XoSmiw/UvFIJHn4FJI/AAAAAAAABXg/zGHe1A676Ls/s1600/PA+Shale+Viewer+fractracker+cp.jpg

I went into the above to show fracking is NOT occurring EAST of the Appalachian Mountains for the simple reason they is no deep gas in that area. Most of Europe is much like the East Coast of the US, very little DEEP natural gas. The Highlands of Scotland, being geologically a part of the Appalachian Mountains may be the only area with sufficient amounts of Natural Gas. The Polish well with its high Nitrogen content (50%) may be the best you can get in Europe (Through other sources name at least three areas of great potential from Fracking in Poland).

More exploratory wells may find usable natural gas, but given the price of natural gas in Europe is much higher then it is in the US, that fracking is still small in Europe indicates little belief that such wells could be drilled profitability. The price difference is so great that some US Natural Gas Producers want to ship gas to Europe, even through it takes the energy equivalence of one part of natural gas to compress two to three parts to its liquid state, i.e when it comes to compressed natural gas, its price reflects not only the natural gas compressed, but the cost to compress that natural gas (and the cost of the container to hold that natural gas). Thus Compressed Natural Gas always costs at least 1/3 more then Natural Gas shipped through pipelines.

Given the only way to ship US Natural Gas to Europe from the US is a Liquidized Natural Gas (LNG), the price difference must be more then 1/3 the price of Natural Gas at the well head. That appears to be the case TODAY, but how long the price will stay that low in the US once such shipping occurs is an open question. Furthermore the cost of producing and shipping Russia Gas by pipeline is quite low and if Russia wanted to, it could drop the price of natural gas in Europe to US Levels any time it wants to (Through Russia MAY not be able to do so for it needs the money from the Sale of its Natural Gas products).

[smirkymonkey]

12. K&R

[KittyWampus]

13. Scotland has the luxury of large petroleum deposits in the North Sea.

When those are fully depleted, fracking will be on the table.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. The Revolution is on in Scotland

[center]

[/center][font size="1"]From Wikipedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eugène_Delacroix_-_La_liberté_guidant_le_peuple.jpg)
(Public Domain)
[/font]

[Nihil]

15. Ah, another typical Saturday night in Glasgow!