The ‘geothermal moonshot’

Geothermal is just as likely to run into legal challenges as other forms of underground energy recovery. The article below is part of ‘a special feature on the hazards and potential of geothermal energy’, featuring the habitat of Nevada’s tiny and endangered Dixie Valley toad.
– – –
From his home office in Carson City, Nevada, Paul Schwering monitors an old gold mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota, approximately 1,000 miles away and a mile underground.

What was once the Homestake Gold Mine has been repurposed as a research station for enhanced geothermal systems, also known as engineered geothermal systems, a technology that could increase the United States’ geothermal power generating capacity 40-fold, says the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Energy experts estimate that geothermal energy could contribute up to 10 percent of US electricity generation, but only if researchers can figure out how to make enhanced geothermal systems work on a large scale.

Enhanced geothermal systems have been called the “geothermal moonshot.”

England’s Fracking Ban Lifted In Bid For Energy Independence

Scotland and Wales still rely on large amounts of gas, but their governments don’t want to be reminded of that as it tarnishes their imaginary climate halos. Arguing that there are no worthwhile benefits to be had looks lame when gas shortages are currently forcing global prices ever higher. If there’s public resistance they will have to accept their energy bill pain for the foreseeable future.
– – –
Britain on Thursday formally lifted a moratorium on fracking for shale gas in England that has been in place since 2019, saying strengthening the country’s energy supply was an “absolute priority”, reports Reuters (via Climate Change Dispatch).

Energy prices have soared in Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Britain is subsidizing bills for households and businesses at a predicted cost of more than 100 billion pounds ($113 billion).

New Prime Minister Liz Truss said earlier this month that fracking – extracting shale gas from rocks by breaking them up – would be allowed where it was supported by communities.

Truss told to increase earthquake limits to kickstart fracking revolution

UK test drilling site for shale gas

Surely the time has to come to break the energy policy stranglehold of climate-obsessed ‘net zero’ propagandists. Everyone knows limits on drilling have been set far below earthquake level. Replacing at least some imports with local gas must make sense, if feasible.
– – –
Liz Truss is being urged to relax the limits on earthquakes caused by fracking as part of plans to kickstart an energy revolution, says The Telegraph.

The Prime Minister is already poised to end the moratorium on fracking within days in a bid to make Britain energy independent by 2040.

But companies say this alone will not be enough to unlock Britain’s potentially vast shale gas reserves. The Telegraph understands fracking businesses are lobbying for the limits on seismic activity to be substantially increased to help kickstart the industry.

Climate change tsar hauled over the coals after warning Liz Truss against lifting fracking ban amid energy crisis

Fracking: note the deep shaft

The battle of the crises – energy and climate. One real, one…not so much. Silence continues on the renewables intermittency question.
– – –
The Government’s climate change tsar was told he needs to ‘live in the real world’ after he warned Liz Truss against lifting the fracking moratorium despite the energy crisis, reports the Daily Mail.

Lord Deben said approving fracking would have no impact on energy prices – and urged her to focus on renewables instead.

The Prime Minister is set to end the ban on the gas extraction method today, after pledging to take action during the leadership campaign.

Next Prime Minister warned not to wreck UK shale gas opportunity yet again

Shale gas drilling site [image credit: BBC]

If the UK needs the gas, relying on imports no longer makes sense – if it ever did. It’s not a climate argument, it’s a necessity argument.
– – –
London, 28 July – Press release: Net Zero Watch has warned that the next Prime Minister will have to radically break with 12 years of failure by Conservative-led governments to develop the UK’s massive shale gas reserves.
. . .
The campaign group welcomed the pledges by Tory leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to overturn Boris Johnson’s fracking ban if they succeed him, but warned that despite similar pledges by previous ministers, conservative-led governments had completely failed to get any shale gas out of the ground for the last 12 years.

Net Zero Watch has repeatedly called for the UK to accelerate the development of Britain’s massive and potentially game-changing shale gas resources.

Parliamentarians call for fracking review to be based on science

Fracking: note the deep shaft

Any decision shouldn’t be based on the preferences of a minority of evidence-light climate squealers or other campaigners seeking to exaggerate minor issues. If the verdict is ‘no’ it should explain why it’s OK to import gas from overseas fracking operations.
– – –
London, 25 June – Net Zero Watch is today launching a campaign to ensure science is put at the heart of the British Geological Survey’s review into shale gas extraction, demanding the Government uses this opportunity to unlock national and local benefits, and enhance Britain’s energy security.

24 prominent parliamentarians including Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Esther McVey MP, and the former Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, Lord Frost, have already signed up to the campaign. This is along with the leadership team of the parliamentary Net Zero Scrutiny Group, Craig Mackinlay MP and Steve Baker MP.

Boris Johnson warned he won’t survive continued ban of UK shale gas

Plans to keep 1,2 or maybe 3 coal-fired power stations on standby over winter look somewhat threadbare for a population of around 70 million, as the gas crisis rages on. Meanwhile politicians cling to their climate saver fantasies.
– – –
London, 15 June – Net Zero Watch is calling on Boris Johnson to stop dithering on UK shale gas, in the face of a sharp intensification of Britain’s energy crisis.

In recent days, UK natural gas prices have risen 25% in response to a fire at a major US LNG facility, which will severely reduce the supply for many months to come.

In addition, political turmoil has caused Libyan production to almost grind to a halt while Russia has announced to curtail gas exports to Europe.

Former minister warns Britons of risk of energy rationing

Lord Frost was unimpressed by the UK’s newly announced energy plan. Government bluster about hydrogen and biomass has minimal credibility. They believe the climate guff and all decisions flow from that. Expensive and risky.
– – –
A former Cabinet Minister has warned people could face the rationing of energy as a result of the implementation of the recent Energy Security Strategy, reports Energy Live News.

Lord Frost said: “I was not massively convinced that the energy security paper really changed anything much. I think it does not deal with the problem that it’s all very well to build a lot of wind power but it needs a backup by other power for when the wind does not blow and I did not see that problem really addressed in the security paper.”

Ban fracking, rock concerts and football matches!

Image credit: Iridescent @ Wikipedia

And heavy vehicles – or armies – from bridges, obviously.
– – –
If the government is banning fracking for producing imperceptible tremors then it should be consistent and not allow the seismic carnage caused by rock concerts or football matches for that matter, jokes Net Zero Watch.

When many members of the public think about fracking their very next thought is likely to be “earthquakes.”

That’s because in the public’s perception fracking is a danger – nobody wants an induced earthquake just as nobody would want an induced volcanic eruption or tidal wave.

Nature is capricious enough to be threatening if you live in certain parts of the world. We don’t want earthquakes near Blackpool or Burnley, do we?

That’s the problem with the word earthquake. A better term is micro-seismicity and when viewed that way such events are everywhere.
. . .
Now, have you ever wondered why armies break step on a bridge?

Full article here.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng orders scientific review of fracking impact

Fracking: note the deep shaft

Can they get over the paralysis induced by their climate obsessions and get on with what the US has done successfully for years, or are they just looking for another report to hide behind? The days of thinking gas could always be reliably imported at moderate cost are over.
– – –
Senior Tories are calling for an end to the ban on shale gas extraction to help secure energy supplies, says BBC News.

The government has ordered a new report on the impact of fracking, days ahead of publishing its energy supply plan.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has given the British Geological Survey (BGS) three months to assess any changes to the science around the controversial practice.

Fracking was halted in the UK in 2019 amid opposition from green groups and local concerns over earth tremors.

The BBC’s fake news about fracking

.
.
The UK can follow the US lead and tap its own land-based gas resources using the latest expertise, or it can compete for uncertain and expensive supplies on the world market. Energy security or…??

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Philip Bratby

The seasons are changing, and for many of us that means it’s time for a spring clean. My back patio has been gathering months’ worth of soil and winter debris, so I now need to blow it up. I will use the same method to clean the grime off my car. After ensuring the area is clear, and any nearby houses or pedestrians are safe, I will subject the car to lots of explosions. In each case, I shall be using a power washer, of the kind that Halfords sells for around 50 quid.

At this point, I expect the pedants among you to start quibbling. The hydraulic pressure from my power washer is not an ‘explosion’, you might point out. Water pressure does not cause ‘a sudden and rapid expansion’, which is how many dictionaries define ‘explosion’. But according to the BBC’s most…

View original post 60 more words

PM Overrules Energy Regulator

.
.
Let’s hope this decision is not just a publicity stunt to be kicked around for the duration of the Ukraine disaster, with no end result.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

According to press reports, the Prime Minister has opened the door to the revival of the UK’s shale gas industry in the aftermath of the Government’s ban on imports of Russian oil.

According to the Daily Telegraph “the Prime Minister wants his ministers to look again at whether fracking, which has been under a moratorium for more than two years, can help diversify the country’s energy supply.”

Officials are said to be working on an “energy supply strategy”.

Meanwhile, the US administration is ratcheting up pressure on shale gas producers, telling them they should be doing “whatever it takes” to increase shale supplies and tame energy prices that have soared following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Even the EU’s newly released energy plan makes absolutely clear that the first and overriding priority is to obtain non-Russian natural gas to shore up security of supply.

Net Zero…

View original post 108 more words

Stop funding Putin’s war, Boris! – Net Zero Watch

The era of silly but damaging climate games is over, or should be. The world has far more serious matters to attend to.
– – –
London, 25 February – Net Zero Watch has called on Boris Johnson to stop all Russian gas imports and follow through on his statement to Parliament yesterday that the UK should use domestic hydrocarbons “rather than pointlessly importing them from abroad.”

According to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy the UK has imported 73,770 Gwh of Russian LNG in the last 4 years. At 4 pence per kwh – that gas has a value of £2.95bn.

In other words, Britain has been funding Putin’s war machine to the tune of £14 million per week.

Net Zero Watch has called on ministers to overrule the fracking regulator

.
.
Looks like a sop to the green lobby as new North Sea oil and gas projects have just been approved. But gas will be needed long after 2050 if the UK intends to keep running a modern economy, and security of supply in a competitive world is obviously far greater with more home-produced energy.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

With energy price rises about to hammer hard-pressed households across the UK, the Oil and Gas Authority regulator is trying to force onshore gas companies to seal up the shale gas wells they have drilled.

Net Zero Watch is warning that the government’s approach to the energy crisis remains dangerously incoherent. On the one hand, the Prime Minister is openly calling for increased domestic gas extraction and has brought forward approvals for North Sea developments, while at the same time regulators are preventing lower-cost onshore fields from ever being exploited.

Net Zero Watch director Dr Benny Peiser said:

And Net Zero Watch’s Director of Energy Dr John Constable explained that regulators’ remits are making things worse.

https://www.netzerowatch.com/government-needs-to-get-a-grip-on-energy-crisis/

One of the major issues here is that Net Zero has been deliberately placed as an overriding obligation in the OGA’s Strategy:

https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/regulatory-framework/the-oga-strategy/

Although they say they still aim to…

View original post 25 more words

Declare an energy emergency or risk economic disaster, Boris Johnson warned – Net Zero Watch

Fracking: note the deep shaft

The chances of the UK government listening to anybody other than climate obsessives on energy matters are about zero. Most of the opposition parties are even more addicted to the notion of climate being determined by the level of trace gases in the atmosphere, with wildly unrealistic policies to match.
– – –
London, 29 December – Net Zero Watch has called on Boris Johnson to declare an energy emergency and introduce radical policy reforms in order to prevent the energy cost crisis turning into an economic and social disaster.

The call comes as fears grow over a devastating energy cost and energy security crisis, with spiralling prices hitting households and businesses hard, and warnings that energy bills could double or even treble next year.

It is reported that Boris Johnson is considering to hand out £20 billion of taxpayers’ money to energy suppliers who are threatening to double or treble energy costs.

Fracking companies threaten government with legal action over ban

[Not to scale]

The complaint now, or one of them, is that geothermal is free to do things the hydraulic fracturers weren’t allowed to do prior to their ban, and which in part led to the ban.
– – –
Fracking companies have threatened to take legal action over the government’s ban on the practice, amid the sector’s growing frustration at being left behind the UK energy revolution, according to reports – City AM.

The sector sent “pre-action correspondence” to the government after fears prompted by earthquakes in 2019 led to a ban on drilling, according to the Telegraph, which first reported the news.

Among the fracking projects that had to be abandoned after the ban, was one financed by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe whose company Ineos wrote off £63m in 2019.

China has no intention to reduce fossil fuel use. Just the opposite.

New pipelines under construction between Russia and China.

A damning new report from GWPF outlines massive new energy projects being undertaken by the CCP which dwarf its figleaf ‘green energy’ enterprises, here’s a short excerpt, but everyone should download and read the full document.

China today relies on fossil fuels for 86% of its total primary energy consumption (58% from coal, 20% from petroleum and other liquids, and 8% from natural gas).28 Rather than curbing its appetite for fossil fuels, Beijing is voraciously seeking more. In the case of coal, China has aggressively relaxed regulations that restricted domestic coal production, seeking to rapidly raise production capacity. ‘In the first half of 2020 China approved 23 gigawatts-worth of new coal power projects, more than the previous two years combined,’ reported
AFP, citing Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based environmental NGO. The CCP approved 141 million tons of new annual coal mining capacity in the first half of 2019. In all of 2018, it approved 25 million tons.

Energy minister declares UK fracking dead.

Utterly misguided and spineless UK Govt. decision.

Energy firm Cuadrilla resumes fracking

Note the deep shaft

Another attempt to convince a so-far reluctant UK government that shale gas work is far from being the pantomime villain that protesters want them to imagine it is. Insisting that ‘tremors’ far smaller than allowed in other comparable UK industries merit stoppages is unreasonable to say the least.

Energy firm Cuadrilla has resumed fracking at its site in Lancashire, it has confirmed.

Drilling began at the Preston New Road site in October but operations were halted on a number of occasions due to underground tremors, reports BBC News.

No fracking has taken place on the site since December.

UK fracking tsar resigns: accuses ministers of putting UK energy security in peril by caving in to green zealots

No surprise here. She is only saying what the leading industry players have been complaining about for months at least, i.e. the absurdity of some of the rules forced upon them.

Natascha Engel says the government’s approach to fracking has created a de facto ban on it, BBC News reports.

The UK’s shale gas commissioner is resigning after just six months, saying fracking is being throttled by rules preventing mini earthquakes.

Current government rules mean fracking must be suspended every time a 0.5 magnitude tremor is detected. But according  to a mail online report by David Rose, Ms Engel said that “The same rules do not apply to quarry blasting or construction piling, which can cause much bigger earth movements. They are also thousands of times weaker than the level 4 or 5 quakes geologists say are the smallest likely to damage buildings.”