Protests Against Coal Seam Gas Mining Set to Continue in NSW

A meeting to organize a Campbelltown day of action against coal seam gas mining will take place on Saturday, according to the Macarthur Chronicle.

The meeting follows a string of protests in recent months amid growing opposition to coal seam gas (CSG) in urban and rural areas across Australia.

Coal seam gas (CSG) refers to gas extracted from underground coal seams. Like shale and natural gas mining, the gas extracted in CSG mining is methane.

The concerns raised by anti-CSG groups against CSG mostly relate to the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that is sometimes used to extract the gas.

Fracking is a process where water, sand and chemicals are blasted into the coal seam to crack it open.

One of the main concerns raised by anti-CSG groups against CSG is the effect it could have on the farming industry.

Since anything more than a few centimeters below the surface is public property, the government often grants companies exploration licenses on farmland, which has angered many farmers.

It is feared that chemicals used in the fracking process could pollute groundwater and aquifers, which are needed for agriculture.

The amount of Groundwater used by CSG is also a concern. The Australian Government National Water Commission estimated last year that the CSG industry could extract around 7,500 gigalitres of groundwater over the next 25 years.

In comparison, the current yearly extraction from the Great Artesian Basin is around 540 gigalitres. And this is already considered an over allocation.

Other concerns of anti-CSG groups include a higher risk of cancer in surrounding areas, minor earthquakes, threats to native wildlife and fugitive methane emissions. Methane is a more potent, but shorter lasting greenhouse gas compared to CO2.

Until recently, gas powered electricity was considered the greener alternative to coal. When methane gas is burned for electricity it is up to 70% less emissions intensive than coal.

However a recent Cornwell University study of shale gas wells in the US found that when leakages were taken into account, emissions produced by gas-powered electricity were similar to coal over a 100 year period and 20% greater over a 20 year period.

The extent of fugitive emissions from gas wells in Australia is unknown. However a Four Corners investigation earlier this year revealed that a number of wells operating in QLD contained leaks.

While the debate over fracking in the US and Europe has mainly focused on shale gas, CSG is the main source of gas in Australia.

However concerns over the fracking process overseas have led to it being banned in France and suspended in England, while in the US the Environmental Protection Agency has moved to regulate waste water produced by fracking.

The claims made by anti-CSG groups against CSG production in Australia are strongly denied by the Australian gas industry, which recently launched its own advertising campaign to counter the anti-CSG movement.

The industry has conducted its own research and says the chemicals they use are harmless, the prevalence of leakages has been overstated and that overseas research on shale gas should not apply here.

While most CSG mining currently occurs in QLD, companies presently hold exploration licenses for gas throughout both rural and urban NSW.

Calls for a national moratorium on CSG have so far gone unheeded, despite a recent Galaxy pole finding that 70% of Australians were in favor of one.

The NSW government has responded to the issue by issuing an extended moratorium on fracking until the end of the year, banning the use of several harmful chemicals and conducting an upper house inquiry.

But gas is currently seen as an important transitional fuel source in the switch to renewable technologies.

It is estimated in the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Future Plan, which aims for 40% renewable energy by 2050, that under a carbon price the use of gas-powered electricity will also rise by 200%.

What happens after the NSW Moratorium on fracking expires and what will come from the upper house inquiry are as yet unknown.

However the position of the NSW government has consistently been one of coexistence between mining companies and farmers.

But whatever the case, this much is clear: protests against CSG do not appear to be subsiding any time soon.


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