Extraction of natural gas from the deep soil in a region of the Netherlands has triggered an increase in minor earthquakes, similar to seismic effects that have raised concerns about drilling operations, including hydraulic fracturing, in other countries.

While the extraction of gas has occurred for decades (more…)

A pair of ongoing studies show unexpectedly high methane leakage from some oil and gas fields in the U.S., findings that underscore concerns that the climate benefits of the natural gas boom may be overstated.

Researchers from the University of Colorado at (more…)

Legendary artist, singer, performer and activist Yoko Ono has lent her support to the anti-fracking campaign. On Monday Yoko placed a full page in the New York Times calling on Governor Cuomo to “Image There’s No Fracking … and give clean energy a chance.” The ad illustrates and describes how cement in wells at such great depths leaks, poisoning drinking water with (more…)

Shale gas is being widely tapped in the U.S., but whether and to what extent other countries,―particularly in Europe and China,― will adopt it remains unclear. Although estimates vary as to how much of this unconventional and controversial fuel is bound up in domestic shale formations, natural-gas prices are likely to remain low for the time being. In this interview, Harvard Business (more…)

Several university-led studies that have downplayed concerns about the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing have been funded in part by drilling companies themselves, Bloomberg News reports.

Bloomberg cited, for example, a 2009 report published by Pennsylvania State University predicting (more…)

The newfound abundance of natural gas carries with it a few main issues, some good, some bad, which I abbreviate as follows:

1) Good news: It holds the potential to lessen the cost and environmental impact of our energy consumption for at least the short term.

2) Bad news: That lowering of costs will make the R&D (more…)

Economics, politics, grid constraints, and a fair amount of luck have set in motion an awkward relationship between the natural gas and cleantech industries that could be characterized as “frenemies with benefits.” My colleagues Kerry-Ann Adamson and Mackinnon Lawrence have already shared their views on this complex dynamic, and their outlooks (more…)

I just read the Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac and noted that it’s the birthday of May Swenson, an author of the 20th Century who once wrote to a friend, “Not to need illusion—to dare to see and say how things really are, is the emancipation I would like to attain.”

It’s true that we force-fit the facts into our theories. (more…)

A new study estimates that fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region can migrate into underground drinking water supplies far more quickly than experts have previously estimated.

The study, based on computer modeling and funded (more…)

A planned shale gas drilling project in New York state would utilize a waterless form of hydraulic fracturing, a new technique designed to reduce the potential pollution associated with the controversial natural gas drilling process.

Rather than using typical hydraulic fracturing (more…)