RE: Beetaloo fan got another job4 Feb 2020 15:11
Looks like Matt wrote an article on his way out.
Shale be right: why fracking is the answer to all our energy woesMATT CANAVAN
2 HOURS AGO FEBRUARY 5, 2020
1 COMMENT
In Midland, Texas, the centre of the Permian Basin, an energy revolution is unfolding. At regular intervals, truckloads of diesel pumps roar into life and pump water down wells rich with oil and gas.
Each of the three wells at the site extend for more than 3km in a horizontal direction. It would take you 30 minutes to walk the distance of a single well.
Fracking has been around for more than 50 years. It is horizontal drilling that has unlocked the shale revolution.
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This revolution remains strangely unheard of by many commentators, who don’t seem to realise that the use of fossil fuels is skyrocketing to new heights even as the cost of alternative energy sources fall.
Those same commentators often argue that shale gas is bad news for the environment, even though it has allowed the US to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by more than almost any other country.
Countries have been trying to cut carbon dioxide emissions for 30 years. During that time three proven methods have emerged: have a recession, send manufacturing jobs to China or adopt new technology.
Australia should adopt these new technologies to lower our emissions rather than putting up the price of energy or increasing the tax load.
We have shale gas resources in Australia that remain untapped. In part this is because state and territory governments have ignored the science and slapped a ban on fracking.
In Victoria, all gas exploration remains banned at least until a moratorium ends in the middle of this year, yet Geoscience Australia estimates there are almost 27 trillion cubic feet of potentially recoverable resources of shale and tight gas onshore in the state — enough to meet 40 years of east coast domestic demand.
The Victorian government says it is waiting for a report from its chief scientist, even though there have been more than a dozen scientific reports into fracking in Australia. All have concluded that fracking can safely occur with appropriate regulation.
In NSW, Santos has been waiting almost a decade for approval of its Narrabri gas project. This project could supply up to half of NSW’s gas needs. Perhaps we need to send Bob Brown up to Narrabri to help the proposals get over the line and deliver jobs for the west of the state.
Continued....
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