Could 'fracking' come to a gas well near Nottingham?

The former coalfield of North Nottinghamshire looks set to be a testbed for the new technology of 'fracking'. Two companies are investigating the potential for recovering methane from coal seams using hydraulic fracturing. That might then lead to fracking for methane from shale in the North and South of the county (see our news page: Will they frack Long Eaton?).

A company called Composite Energy had planning permission in 2009 to drill for coal samples at three sites around Retford. It has now become part of an Australian company Dart Energy which specialises in 'coal bed methane', and is already working near Stirling in Scotland. (See Dart's website and a project synopsis by Envoi which includes a page on the East Midlands.) It also has permission to drill at a site near North Carlton (NW of Lincoln). Some of these sites can be found on a location map on the 'Frack-Off' campaign website.

A Notts-based company Alkane is also planning to drill for coal bed methane around the former colliery site at Bevercotes. Alkane already caps old coal mines in Notts to recover methane. Once it has expertise in fracking for methane in coal seams it will consider moving into shale gas fracking. (A 2011 report by Envoi has some details.)

Nottinghamshire County Council had a consultation on the Minerals Plan in 2012, including a background paper on hydrocarbons. This suggests the whole Eastern side of the county could be explored for coal bed methane. And there are significant areas with shale gas potential in the South (Widmerpool Trough) and North (Gainsborough Trough) of the county.

This section is taken from a British Geological Survey report (June 2011, p24). It runs across Nottinghamshire from Long Eaton in the SW towards Scunthorpe to the NE. The light green layer contains coal measures - deeper in the East of Notts. The darker blue-green layers are part of the 'Bowland-Hodder unit basin shales' which are being fracked by Cuadrilla in Lancashire.

In August 2013, the County Council produced a factsheet on fracking. There had been no applications to explore for shale gas, but four planning applications had been approved to explore for coal bed methane in North Notts.

Companies in the East Midlands

In 2009 and 2010, Composite Energy was granted planning permission to drill for coal samples at three sites around Retford. This will allow them to assess the potential for recovering coal bed methane in this area. In 2011, Composite Energy was taken over by Dart Energy which has an interest in coal bed methane in a number of countries.

In May 2011 a Nottinghamshire-based company Alkane announced that it had been investigating the possibility of recovering methane from coal seams and shale (see Nottingham Post, 5 May 2011) with a particular focus along the Notts-Derbys border. Alkane already recovers methane from abandoned mines - which performs a useful service in preventing methane escaping to atmosphere. Alkane refused to release any details about intended fracking, claiming it had only got as far as background research.

In February 2012, Alkane moved further towards exploring the potential for coal bed methane in North Notts. It has a licence for an area of 67 square km between Ollerton and Lincoln. See a briefing from an advisor Envoi. In July 2013, Alkane's Chief Executive Neil O'Brien suggested that former coalfield areas of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire could be fracked with little local opposition (see press reports). Alkane is also talking to potential partners to develop its shale gas interests.

Another company exploring the potential of shale gas in the East Midlands is Egdon Resources plc. It has an interest in the Gainsborough Trough along with Dart and Alkane's subsidiary Greenpark - see news reports for 2010 and 2013. Other companies include eCorp Oil and Gas UK Ltd and Star Energy Oil and Gas Ltd (owned by IGas Energy plc which is exploring coal bed methane in Cheshire and elsewhere, and has been producing oil and gas in the Gainsborough area since 1959). Although Egdon's main interests have been in conventional oil and gas, it is now exploring the potential for shale gas.

Egdon also has an interest in the Widmerpool Trough with a potential site at Burton on the Wolds (between Loughborough and Keyworth) - see news items for 2012 and 2013.

Background

Fracking involves hydraulic fracturing of rocks by pumping water and chemicals at high pressure to release gas. Fracking uses large amounts of water which has to be taken from local supplies - and then the contaminated waste water disposed of. They won't even tell us what chemicals are used. Fracking may also release methane to the atmosphere causing more global warming. We should, of course, be using less fossil fuels, not going after ever more risky sources.

A national Anti-Fracking Network for Britain and Ireland was launched at a conference in Manchester in March 2012. Latest developments are tracked on the Frack-Off website. A campaign guide and technical briefing are on the Free Range Activism website, and there is a YouTube video of a presentation to the conference. There is also a diagram showing links between government ministers and fracking companies.

The first example of exploratory fracking for shale gas in the UK was by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, near Blackpool. This was halted during 2012 due to a couple of small earthquakes - which indicate that fracking water is probably moving along fault lines underground. Also, frack water returned to the surface has caused concern because of radioactive contamination. Cuadrilla is also pursuing shale gas elsewhere in the UK, including Balcombe, West Sussex. Other companies are interested in shale gas or coal bed methane in Scotland, Wales, Ireland (South and North) and Cheshire. See: frack-off.org.uk/locations. Protest groups include: Fylde, Ribble Estuary, Ireland, Balcombe, Falkirk (against Dart), and many others - see the Frack-off website and a Britain and Ireland Frack Free (BIFF) list.

As of August 2013, Cuadrilla is the only company to have used 'high volume hydraulic fracturing' in the UK (see letter from DECC) - contrary to misleading claims that 'fracking' is a proven technology in the UK.

Some background information:

• European health & environment NGOs: dangerous experiment
• Friends of the Earth: Energy solution or fracking hell?
• Greenpeace: why we could all be fracked
• Stop Climate Chaos: fracking & climate change
• Anti-fracking statements: RSPB, National Trust, NGOs
• EcoWatch (US): Environmental News: Fracking
• Energy and Climate Change Committee: investigation of shale gas
• British Geological Survey: how much shale gas?
• Dept of Energy and Climate Change - information overview
• Center for Media and Democracy: Digest of Fracking Research
• Time lapse video of wellhead construction

In 2010 the Cooperative funded research by the Tyndall Centre which recommends a moratorium until more is known about fracking. However, in 2011 the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee recommended fracking should go ahead but be monitored "extremely closely", even though it might divert investment from renewable energy (23 May 2011). An updated assessment by the Tyndall Centre in November 2011 concluded that 'shale gas expansion could jeopardise climate commitments'.

In March 2011, an award-winning film Gasland was shown at Broadway Cinema. It explores experience of fracking in the US which has polluted drinking water with claims that people can ignite gas coming out of their taps.

There have been continuing problems in the US with contamination of groundwater used for drinking by methane and heavy metals. The US Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of suppressing evidence and delaying a promised research report. There are also emerging problems in parts of the US with water scarcity. (See a summary of research on water issues.)

In the UK, water companies issued a warning in 2012 about the potential impact on water supplies and groundwater contamination. It has emerged that the Environment Agency briefed Government Ministers that fracking should not be permitted near aquifers used for drinking water - but has been accused of concealing this information from the public.

Although fracking companies claim that burning gas has lower climate change emissions than coal, that is true only if leakage of methane is below around 3% - as methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Evidence suggests leakage is greater than this - so shale gas is worse than coal. (See a summary of research on methane leakage.)

As well as the likelihood that radioactive material from the shale layers will be brought to the surface with returned fracking water, there is also a risk that radon gas will be distributed through the gas supply causing a radioactive hazard in people's homes and workplaces. In May 2013, Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry gave a written answer, as Health Minister, promising a report from Public Health England on the health issues of fracking, including radon (Official Report, 20 May 2013; Vol. 563, c. 570W: Radon Gas: Health Hazards).

Some press reports:

• New York Times, Feb 2011: tainted water hits rivers
• Der Spiegel, Mar 2011: review of impact of fracking around the world
• New York Times, Mar 2011: lax regulation of gas drilling in US
• Democracy Now, Mar 2011: more on the New York Times story
• Independent, Jan 2011: concern at fracking near Blackpool
• Wales Online, Feb 2011: fracking coming to South Wales
• Guardian, Mar 2011: Cuadrilla's results will be secret to 2015
• Guardian, Apr 2011: is shale gas as green as oil companies say?
• British Geological Survey, May 2011: earthquakes near Blackpool
• New York Times, Jun 2011: US shalegas 'math was not adding up'
• Guardian, Aug 2011: lack of regulation for fracking
• Guardian, Nov 2011: Shale gas would wreck UK climate targets
• New York Times, Dec 2011: US suffer dodgy shale gas leases
• Bloomberg, Jan 2012: fears of shale gas bubble in US
• Report for Ofgem, Feb 2012: fracking only 1-4% UK gas by 2020
• Colorado, Mar 2012: health impacts of fracking air pollution
• Guardian, Apr 2012: Deutsche Bank: European shale gas not cheap
• Business Post, May 2012: fracking in Notts? * Dart focus on coalbed methane * experts cautious
• Greenpeace, Nov 2012: FOI: confusion on shale regulation
• Observer, Dec 2012: Andrew Rawnsley on the frack-heads
• BBC, Dec 2012: fracking go-ahead after Cuadrilla earthquakes
• DECC, Dec 2012: 'moving forward with appropriate caution'
• Financial Times, Mar 2013: Cuadrilla fracking delayed another year
• New Statesman, Mar 2013: Cuadrilla CEO interviewed
• Telegraph, Jun 2013: drinking water contaminated near fracking sites
• DECC, Jun 2013: estimates of shale gas resources in North England
• ITV Meridian, Aug 2013: photos of Balcombe protest
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug 2013: waste too radioactive for landfill
• Private Eye, Aug 2013: Fracking - the Great Debate

Frackonomics

There is an interesting debate about how long the low price of gas in the US will last. When the easiest gas to frack runs out there is an industry expectation that prices will have to rise - to make it economic to develop more difficult sources. See, for example:
* Shalebubble: diminishing returns, unsustainable prices
* Bloomberg: US shale bubble inflates
* People, planet, profit: Shale bubble threatens economic collapse
* EU summit: bubble will burst within 2-4 years
* Desmogblog: Shale Gas Bubble Looms, aided by Wall Street
* Club of Rome: Shale Gas Revolution: is it already over?
Some comments on fracking economics:
* New Economics Foundation: Why I'm against fracking
* Friends of the Earth Europe: Shale gas: debunking economic myths
And if you want a seminar on frackonomics (in four half hour sessions):
Pt 1: Deborah Rogers; Pt 2: Jannette Barth, Pt 3: Al Appleton, Pt 4: Q&A.