Polish fracking well probe shows no harm to environment

World Shale Gas Map, image via Wikipedia

Poland sits on an estimated 5.3 trillion cubic meters of shale gas—enough to supply the country with over 300 years of domestic energy needs. A government study released on Friday said Poland’s first frack job did not harm the environment, according to Reuters.

The study was carried out in northern Poland by the Polish Geological Institute, ordered by Poland’s Environment Ministry. The report does not impart a general conclusion but instead investigates all aspects of the fracking process. It concludes that neither the groundwater nor the atmosphere was polluted from fracking.

“What it shows is that if all procedures are adhered to, there is nothing to worry about,” a researcher involved in the study told Reuters.

With the largest estimated shale gas deposits in Europe, Poland is motivated to jump on the opportunity because it will reduce reliance on Russian supplies. Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to make shale gas investment a key priority within the next two years. Poland’s national report on fracking and its effects is expected to be released on March 21 of this year.

New study predicts increased use of natural gas will make climate change worse

A recent study at Cornell University concluded that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (especially methane) resulting from extracting gas from shale reserves is astronomical—and would ultimately make climate change worse, not better.

Supporters of fracking argue that the process is a cleaner alternative, but this study proves their argument invalid, TreeHugger reports. The authors write in the study, which will be published in Climatic Change, “The large GHG footprint of shale gas undercuts the logic of its use as a bridging fuel over coming decades, if the goal is to reduce global warming.”

They elaborate by mentioning that the carbon footprint of shale gas extraction is even higher than that of oil or coal. Scientists have estimated that as much as 8 percent of methane escapes into the atmosphere, which makes for a much worse footprint (methane is much more powerful than carbon dioxide).

Gas well blazing, methane emissions

This study is not the first of its kind, but it fortifies past research.