Coal Seam Gas Essay -- Environment

With environmental sustainability a key focus for the future the need for cleaner forms of power generation have resulted in a number of gas exploration projects in Australia (Department of Infrastructure and Planning, 2008). With Australia having potentially vast untapped reserves of coal seam methane beds it must be asked whether there are any negative impacts associated with coal seam methane (CSM) before the energy industry moves into a new technology. Coalification, the geologic process that progressively converts plant material to coal, generates large quantities of natural gas, which are subsequently stored in the coal seams. The increased pressures from water in the coal seams force the natural gas to adsorb to the coal. The natural gas consists of approximately 96 percent methane, 3.5 percent nitrogen, and trace amounts of carbon dioxide (U.S. EPA, 2004a). Also known as Coal bed methane (CBM), CSG is released by removing water from the stratum which reduces the pressure on the coal seam (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation QLD, 2012). Over the past 15 years and despite the recent global economic downturn the CSG industry has continued to grow rapidly in both development and exploration. The Queensland’s coal seam gas overview shows this clearly with the annual number of wells drilled has increased from 10 in the early 1990s to nearly 600 in 2011 (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation QLD, 2012). As a result of this rapid growth it is necessary to evaluate the current CSG industry to establish and minimise the current and future environmental impacts of CSG mining. Literature Review Many studies have been conducted into the environmental impacts of downhole ... ... treatments in the Oak Grove Field, Black Warrior Basin, In Situ, J. of Coal Research. 17:(3). 273-309. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2000. Study Design for Evaluating of Impacts to Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs. America: EPA. Ardis, L. 2006. Clash Over Coalbed Methane. The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/News/200 6/11/14/CBM/. (Accessed Thursday 31st May 2012). Razowska L, 2000. Journal of Hydrology: Changes of groundwater chemistry caused by the flooding of iron mines (Czestochowa Region, Southern Poland). 244(200). 17-32. Polish Geological Institute. Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2007. Coal Bed Methane Federal, State, and Local Laws, Regulations, and Permits - That May Be Required http://www.deq.mt.gov/coalbedmethane/cbm_water_quality.mcpx (Accessed Tuesday, 29th May, 2012).