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Frack Off


craggy_steve

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Not before time.  Quite apart from the earthquake problem, here are some of the other problems of fracking:

It rarely makes a profit, and requires massive and ongoing injections of public and private cash.  See for example this explanation of the financing of the fracking industry:

https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/10/03/fracking-revolution-peak-without-profits

Most fracking operates as a kind of pyramid / Ponzi scheme: the promoters of the scheme talk up its prospects and (supposedly) how much oil and gas there is to be extracted, investors pour money into it hoping for dividends, the government indirectly subsidises it by picking up the bill for damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure caused by heavy machinery, then the original promoters sell on the fracking rights to someone else and walk away.  So generally speaking, the people who make money out of it are the original promoters, and the construction workers who get well paid but temporary jobs while the thing lasts.

Decline rates of production are ferocious, typically 75% within the first year:

https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:762320/FULLTEXT01.pdf

You have to keep continually re-drilling or re-fracking to keep production going.

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If the Conservative party form the next government that's a decision that will soon be reversed.  It's more than likely been announced in order to draw one of the Labour parties stings.

There's no way that hydraulic fracturing isn't going to be used in the future.

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39 minutes ago, Freggyragh said:

There’s not enough shale gas and the potential costs of both the wells and the micro-seismic events are prohibitive. It might be economic one day, but right now it looks like pie in the sky compared to other energy sources. 

it didn't stop the daft windmill been built which provide power by diesel generators when its too windy or not enough wind....

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Not quite sure what you’re trying to say. If you are saying that wind power stations provide power by diesel generators then that is an interesting development I hadn’t heard of before.
 

If you are saying that although wind power generation meets about 20% of U.K. needs and wind power stations are now cheaper to build than gas power stations, they cannot be relied on when wind conditions don’t suit, then yes that is true, on the other hand, windmills don’t seem to cause earthquakes or sinkholes and reserves of wind are indefinite whereas estimates of reserves of shale gas in the U.K. at current rates of gas consumption are thought to be only 5-7 years. That estimate has been reduced from 50 years. That’s why fracking isn’t worth it any more. Of course, that might change if new reserves are found or if the price of gas rockets. 

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1 hour ago, Freggyragh said:

Not quite sure what you’re trying to say. If you are saying that wind power stations provide power by diesel generators then that is an interesting development I hadn’t heard of before.
 

If you are saying that although wind power generation meets about 20% of U.K. needs and wind power stations are now cheaper to build than gas power stations, they cannot be relied on when wind conditions don’t suit, then yes that is true, on the other hand, windmills don’t seem to cause earthquakes or sinkholes and reserves of wind are indefinite whereas estimates of reserves of shale gas in the U.K. at current rates of gas consumption are thought to be only 5-7 years. That estimate has been reduced from 50 years. That’s why fracking isn’t worth it any more. Of course, that might change if new reserves are found or if the price of gas rockets. 

have a read......

https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/wind/uk-must-use-diesel-generators-to-back-up-wind-turbines/

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11 hours ago, Rog said:

If the Conservative party form the next government that's a decision that will soon be reversed.  It's more than likely been announced in order to draw one of the Labour parties stings.

There's no way that hydraulic fracturing isn't going to be used in the future.

Cynical but true.

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Bearing in mind how dependent we are on energy these days I think relying on wind generators is a big mistake.

Unlike wind tidal is totally reliable and predictable. The big difference is what we in sales we used to call IPV. If it's new and shiny I want one! Especially if it's got flashing lights!

Tidal generators are unseen and go about their business out of sight and out of mind. Wind Turbines, on the other hand are unmissable and constantly in your face.

What we would call Instantly Perceived Value.

Seems to me like a bad decision - form over function...

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Not of particular value for the island but a process called Underground Coal Gasification is attracting a lot of interest and increasing use especially in Russia.  It could possibly result in the opening up of more than a few closed minds in the UK. I would have thought that modular micro nuclear power plant would have been a whole lot better for the island than renewables and here again modular micro nukes are being increasingly used in the more remote parts of Russia.

Of course the elephant is the existing on-island generation capability.  Speaking for myself I just can not see the sense in going down that road when a feed from the UK mainland with a few essential generators to serve the hospital and the like really would have saved a fortune in capital costs not to mention generation costs.

Wind and water primary sources sound great and cuddly and whale saving but when the numbers are run then it's a different matter.

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13 hours ago, Freggyragh said:

So what you mean is not that wind turbines provide diesel generators, but that sometimes diesel generators are used when there isn’t enough wind. 

:rolleyes:

Quote

which provide power by diesel generators when its too windy or not enough wind....

:whistling:

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10 hours ago, Freggyragh said:

I agree that there is plenty of sense in going with a feed from UK, and Ireland too. Dismissing wind and tidal energy on what I know from all your other posts will only be right-wing idealogical grounds would be as stupid as you. 

Not from Eire.  Eire being a part of the EU would leave the island dependant on a foreign country whereas the island is a British dependency. 

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