Ceres / by Monika Freyman and Ryan Salmon http://bit.ly/18ujgXJ %5BAvailable for free with registration] A new Ceres research paper on water use in hydraulic fracturing operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the United States, most prominently Texas and Colorado, which are both in the midst of prolonged … Continue reading »
Tagged with Unconventional Fossil Fuels …
Assessment of Undiscovered Oil Resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 2013
US Geological Survey http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2013/3013/ [From Press Release] The United States Geological Survey (USGS) today released an updated oil and gas resource assessment for the Bakken Formation and a new assessment for the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The assessments found that the formations contain an estimated mean of 7.4 billion … Continue reading »
Gone for Good: Fracking and Water Loss in the West
Western Organization of Research Councils http://bit.ly/YXwnwE Dickinson Press [North Dakota] A scathing report issued Thursday by the Western Organization of Research Councils says water used in the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is reaching a crisis point in Western states. The regional network of organizations’ 37-page report, titled “Gone for Good,” warns of continued … Continue reading »
National Parks and Hydraulic Fracturing: Balancing Energy Needs, Nature and America’s National Heritage
National Parks Conservation Association http://www.npca.org/about-us/center-for-park-research/fracking/ Federal land regulators should take special care to guard against potential harmful effects of hydraulic fracturing on lands surrounding US national parks, according to a report that the National Parks Conservation Association released Thursday. The report, “National Parks and Hydraulic Fracturing: Balancing Energy Needs, Nature and America’s National Heritage,” examines … Continue reading »
Legal Fractures in Chemical Disclosure Laws: Why the Voluntary Chemical Disclosure Registry FracFocus Fails as a Regulatory Compliance Tool
Harvard Law School, Environmental Law School / by Kate Konschnik, with Margaret Holden and Alexa Shasteen http://hvrd.me/17gbfam [Business Week] FracFocus, the website used by Exxon Mobil Corp. and other energy companies to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, fails as a compliance tool for the 11 states that rely on it, a Harvard Law School … Continue reading »
Memorandum of Understanding on the Development of Alaska’s Vast Unconventional Energy Resources
US Dept. of Energy | Alaska State Dept. of Natural Resources http://1.usa.gov/Z6k04M [From DOE Press Release] Development of potentially vast and important unconventional energy resources in Alaska – including viscous oil and methane hydrates – could be accelerated under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the … Continue reading »
Map of Assessed Shale Gas in the United States, 2012
US Geological Survey / National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team; Compiled by Biewick, Laura R. H. — dated “2013″ http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ds69Z The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled a map of shale-gas assessments in the United States that were completed by 2012 as part of the National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project. Using a … Continue reading »
Induced Seismicity and Hydraulic Fracturing for the Recovery of Hydrocarbons
Accepted for publication in “Marine and Petroleum Geology” / by Richard Davies, Gillian Foulger, Annette Bindley and Peter Styles http://bit.ly/ZphKkL [Durham University Press Release] A new study of hundreds of thousands of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) operations has found that the process has only caused earth tremors that could be felt on the surface in … Continue reading »
The Next Frontier in United States Unconventional Shale Gas and Tight Oil Extraction: Strategic Reduction of Environmental Impact
Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ / by Meagan Mauter, Vanessa R. Palmer, Yiqiao Tang, A. Patrick Behrer http://hvrd.me/11xwcMi The unconventional fossil fuel extraction industry—in the U.S., primarily shale gas and tight oil—is expected to continue expanding dramatically in coming decades as conventionally recoverable reserves wane. At the global scale, a long-term domestic supply of … Continue reading »
Landscape Consequences of Natural Gas Extraction in Allegheny and Susquehanna Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010
US Geological Survey / by E. T. Slonecker, L. E. Milheim, C. M. Roig-Silva and A. R. Malizia, http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20131025 The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods [hydraulic fracturing and coalbed methane] create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction … Continue reading »
