Just when you thought Natural Gas was the answer

[CoolBreeze]

Fracking pollutes more than burning coal, study finds

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When companies use hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas, the resulting energy production contributes as much -- and maybe more -- to global warming as coal-fired electricity, according to a scientific paper due out this week.

Researchers at Cornell University warn that their findings contradict the conventional wisdom that natural gas could become a "bridge fuel" to help the nation transition from coal to wider use of alternative and renewable sources.

"We need to look at the true environmental consequences of shale gas," said Robert Howarth, a Cornell ecology professor and lead author of the study.

Howarth and two colleagues calculated estimates of the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas produced using advanced techniques to release gas reserves from shale formations deep underground. Then they compared those estimates to greenhouse impacts from coal and oil, based on energy content of the fuels.

"The footprint for shale gas is greater than that for conventional gas or oil when viewed on any time horizon, but particularly so over 20 years," the study said. "Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20 percent greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years."

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201104111235

[Tom Taggart]

More "aginners."

Heard this story on NPR. One of their "issues" was that the fracking process released methane. Ladies and gentleman, methane--CH4--is the principal component of natural gas. The remaining components are more complex hydrocarbons plus a certain amount of water vapor (which is removed before it is sent to your home).

Save the world. Just get your shovel out, dig a six foot deep hole, then jump in. Leaves more stuff for the elitist enviromentalists who don't want to really work for a living.