Shale gas extraction in ireland

SHALE GAS EXTRACTIONBoom or Bust?

Aedín McLoughlin B.Sc. Ph.D.Glenwood Research

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WHAT IS SHALE GAS?

Shale – formed from mud in slow-moving

waters laid down in layers up to 400 million

years ago .and compacted by pressure as the

layers drop deeper and deeper into the

earth.

Shale gas – found where organic matter in

the shale turned into gas under pressure.

Shale gas is found all over the world. 2

SHALE GAS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

Source: EIA_World_Shale_Gas_Map.png3

SHALE GAS IN IRELAND

Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, Donegal, Monaghan and Roscommon

Fermanagh Northwest Carboniferous (NC) Basin, also

called “Lough Allen” basin. Clare, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Kerry

Clare Basin

Options licenses have been granted for NC and Clare basins in ROI

In NI, exploratory license has been granted for area that includes Belleek, Derrygonnelly, Florencecourt, Belcoo and Garrison.

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NC (“LOUGH ALLEN”) BASIN

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----- NC Basin----- ROI licence area----- Fermanagh licence area Existing wells----- Proposed gas pipeline

HOW THEY GET THE GAS OUT

1. Flat concrete pad (2.5 acre) + access road constructed

2. Vertical drilling 1,000 – 6,000ft to shale layer; (6,000ft is over a mile.)

3. At shale layer, drill turns and moves horizontally.

4. Drill removed, steel pipes pushed down the shaft.

5. Cement is poured around the pipes to act as barrier.

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FRACKING – HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

Perforating gun is lowered to the end of the bore. Small explosions are set off, fracturing (cracking) the shale.

Fracking fluid is made - water + sand + chemicals. Thick liquid, sand in suspension. 2.5 million gallons or more of water per well

This fluid is pumped in at very high pressure to enlarge the cracks made in the shale and release the gas.

Gas released forces 25% - 40% of fracking fluid, now mixed with gas, salt, volatile chemicals and heavy metals, back up the pipe (blowback). 25% = 625,000 gallons per well. 40% = 1 million gallons

The gas is transported via tankers or pipes to a refinery.7

WHAT CHEMICALS?

Common examples: Acid, e.g. Hydrochloric acid. Cleans pipes and

residue of explosions in shale. Thousands of gallons. Polyacrylamide gel or similar produces

“slickwater”, reduces friction, fills the bore. 100,000 gallons.

Surfactants (detergents) keep sand in suspension. Gelling agents, e.g. guar gum. Also help keep

sand in suspension. Millions of gallons. Biocides – kill micro-organisms, e.g. bromine-based

DBNPA or glutaraldehyde. Corrosion inhibitors, e.g. N,n-dimethyl formamide

and oxygen scavengers, e.g. ammonium bisulfite prevent corrosion of steel tube.

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A QUIET PAD

2.5 acres concrete platform, access road, drill, water pit, trucks, containers, pipes, machinery. One every 2-4 km.

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SHALE GAS PAD

Every 2-4 km (1–2 miles) :Flattened concrete foundation – 2.5 acres in areaAccess road suitable for heavy trucksUp to 8 wells per pad60 ft tower4 toxic wastewater tanks, 40ft x 40ft x 15ft2 rainwater pits, 50m x 50m x 10m. (Combined = area of a soccer pitch)Water well drill-headMachinery of various kinds, tankers, trucks, containers, pipelines, etc.

AN INDUSTRIALISED ZONE! 10

A PAD BEING FRACKED

Pumps lined up to produce the 10,000 to 14,000 psi used to crack the shale

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WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Traffic

Water

Air

Land

Community

Economic

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TRAFFIC ISSUES It takes 30 to 40 days to bring in all the materials

to start the fracking process for each mine site (“pad”). Between 895 and 1,350 truckloads are required for each site – construction, fracking and site completion.

100 heavy trucks and tankers per day on the roads in Leitrim!

These operations run twenty-four hours/day, seven days per week, breaking up secondary roads.

Many of the tanker trucks carry toxic chemicals or toxic waste.

They travel in convoys, polluting the neighbourhood with noise and fumes.

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TRAFFIC IN VILLAGE NEAR FRACKING AREA

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WATER ISSUES 50,000 litres (kg) of chemicals are included in

the 2.5 million gallons of water used to frack each well. At least 25% of this mixture flows back up, together with ‘nasties’ from underground, and must be stored – it is toxic.

Danger of spillages in process – during transport, addition or pumping.

Volatile petroleum chemicals and Increased levels of radioactivity in flow-back fluid.

Leakages from storage tanks or ponds cause water contamination and salted water.

If cement casing on drill well is faulty or poor standard, toxic wastewater and/or gas leak into surrounding rock or water table. 1 in 6 inactive wells are ‘leaky’.

Oil/gas companies report 2% ‘incidents’.15

WHAT 50,000 LITRES OF CHEMICALS LOOK LIKE

White plastic cube-shaped containers of frack chemicals on tractor trailers

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AIR ISSUES

Potential sources of pollution:

Fumes from trucks and drilling equipment

Emissions from gas processing and transportation

Evaporation of chemicals from toxic

wastewater ponds

Emissions due to well blowouts or spills/accidents

Escape of methane gas during production,

processing and transport

Smog from drilling17

WHAT’S IN THAT DUST?

Fumes and dust spewing from the mixing area 18

LAND ISSUES

Scenery and farms destroyed – concrete pads + access roads + gas piping + equipment + heavy traffic throughout the area for 20 years.

Dust comes from all activities at the mine sites and along the entire haul routes. 

Dust from pads contains heavy metals, e.g. lead, and radioactive elements, e.g. radium, and pollutes land and air.

Small earthquakes (as in England), disturb the shallow layers, including the water table.

Spillages can contaminate the land and streams.

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Spill workers herding cattle away from the stream since cattle like to drink salty brine wastewater October 2010

ACCIDENTS: “FRACKING TRUCK RUNS OFF ROAD; CONTENTS SPILL” (WASHINGTON COUNTY)

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A “CLEAN” ENERGY SOURCE?

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Natural Gas production, processing, storage, transmission, and distribution is by far the single largest cause of methane release into the atmosphere.  3.6% to 7.9% of the methane from shale-gas production escapes to the atmosphere in venting and leaks over the lifetime of a well. These methane emissions are 30% - 100% more than those from conventional gas. Methane is at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

(From a Cornell University study)

COMMUNITY ISSUES

Community values and priorities

Divided communities

Public health

No local authority planning control

Quality of Life affected

Land values fall 22

COULD THIS BE YOUR HOUSE NEXT YEAR?

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ECONOMIC ISSUES

Tourism destroyed

Agriculture possibly devastated - one incident of benzene in milk or meat is all it would take

Carbon emissions increased

Our major water table polluted

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WHAT WE COULD BE LEFT WITH

25An aerial view of a Shale Gas production

area