Human Activities Causes Climate Change

As outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the recent observable changes in Earth’s climate can be related and linked to human activates in the past few centuries. Our heavy use on fossil fuels contributed up to 56.6% of the greenhouse gases emitted in 2004 as seen in the figure below (1).This heavy dependence on fossil fuels has encouraged the use, research and development of new alternative energy sources such as Coal seam gas (CSG) which have reduced greenhouse gas emissions. CSG is obtained through drilling into the pores of coal seams then using water to fracture and open the pores in the coal seams which contain high levels of methane. After this fracturing process the pressure within the borehole is reduced and the methane along with the water rises to the surface where it can be collected and distributed as needed. (2) The focus of this report is with the associated water that is retrieved from coal seams, the effects it can have on the environment and treatment methods currently being used to combat the impact on the environment.

The biggest area of concern with CSG is the water by-product that is produced when fracturing coal seams. In Australia on average 300 gigalitres of water is extracted from water aquifers and basins through CSG each year. As outlined by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) the long term impacts on the environment is unknown and there is little research surrounding the area.(3)

A recent article published by scientific bodies also shared the same concern with the unknown effect of CSG water. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences released an article which researched the effects of CSG in Pennsylvania, New York. The research showed that methane ...

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...enge of dealing with the high levels of salinity and elements. The ponds create a greater risk to the environment as they concentrate the levels of the elements which can then contaminate surrounding areas. Re-injection is only viable if the water is first slightly treated to match underground aquifers and if the water is already too concentrated with elements it will require high levels of treatment such as RO. The costs were taken into account in the evaluation however re-injection is only a new a recent technology being implemented in the CSG industry so costs were impossible to find. Reverse osmosis was expensive however it provided greater efficiency and allows the water to be repurposed to any application. When dealing with the challenge of treating CSG water the highest criteria was preserving the environment which reverse osmosis is the most effective at.