Banning Fracking: New Jersey Should Follow Vermont

At a time when the economy of New Jersey seems to be heading south, it is very important that we do not succumb to the temptation of dismantling environmental protections in a futile attempt to reverse the tide of economic bad news. Trampling on our own natural habitat is not good economic policy.

While the conservative (?) government of Canada is revising (see diluting) all environmental laws to favor the oil and gas industries in Canada, the State of Vermont has given us an example of what is essentially the right course of action: Sustainable growth.

Vermont first state to ban fracking – CNN.com.

I can not imagine a government that calls itself conservative (Ottawa) failing to conserve the pristine quality of the Canadian land. I presume conservative means different things to different people.

Hydraulic fracturing – I have written about this before – is the threat of our time against underground water sources. Water – potable water that is – will be among the priciest commodities in one or two decades. We already buy huge amounts of bottled water because we do not trust our tap water.

If elected governor of New Jersey in 2013, I will not rest until hydraulic fracturing and offshore drilling are banned from New Jersey.

Christie Opposes Bill to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing for the Second Time

Lawmakers try again on fracking ban in N.J. | The Asbury Park Press NJ | APP.com.

The bill passed last year and governor Christie applied a conditional veto, establishing a moratorium  of one year instead. That moratorium is about to expire. Christie argues that there has been no interest in doing hydraulic fracturing (HF) – also known as fracking – in New Jersey.

President Obama opened the doors to HF in his last State of the Union Address. Pennsylvania allows HF and New York is said to be about to lift the ban on the procedure to recover methane gas from shale rock formations. These two developments increase the chances that Christie will approve fracking in New Jersey if any gas company applies for permits.

http://geology.com/rocks/shale.shtml

Hydraulic fracturing involves drilling wells and then injecting huge amounts of aqueous solutions containing acids and other chemicals at high pressure to break up the shale layers and liberate the natural gas trapped in them. The solutions are about 98% water. But the remaining 2%, although due to the huge volume of solution used represents an aggregate threat to underground water resources, should not ever be considered the major threat:

The major threat is what exists down there naturally, in solid state, and that those injections will disturb, dissolve, and spread throughout the same strata where our aquifers lie and are replenished. What is worse: That danger is not measurable. There is a huge uncertainty element in hydraulic fracturing.

Furthermore, because the injections are at high pressure, they also tend to increase the temperature underground, not only because of the high pressure itself but because of friction. The increase in temperature underground also increases the degree of solvation of naturally occurring chemical salts and oxides. After entering the liquid state, those chemicals will flow everywhere.

I am not writing here as a candidate. I am writing as a chemist (retired). Governor Christie said yesterday that we should not bother passing a bill when nobody seems interested in fracking in New Jersey. But perhaps nobody has proposed fracking in New Jersey precisely because of the degree of opposition to the procedure in the state. Perhaps the moment we lower our guard and forget about it they may attempt to set foot on this side of the Delaware River.

It would be an unmitigated disaster for New Jersey. The consequences in terms of health and property values can not be pre-measured precisely because of that uncertainty factor I mentioned above. But what is certain is that once an aquifer is contaminated, its water will not be potable for decades. From the underground water, the contamination will flow through springs and wetlands, reaching surface waters as well.

Christie should sign the bill but I fear he is catering to the gas industry. After all, if no one wants to  do hydraulic fracturing in New Jersey, the ban would affect no one either. It would not hurt and would give us peace of mind.

I urge everyone to speak out in favor of the permanent ban. Please attend your town council meetings and ask your local government to pass a resolution opposing hydraulic fracturing and also ask to have a copy of such resolution faxed to the governor’s office.

Remember, once the gas industry put a foot in the door, it will be too late.

Solar, Wind Energy Vital for New Jersey

NJ Spotlight | Solar Sector Likely to Look for Stabilization by Regulation.

After the disdainful lame-duck session of our legislature ignored solar energy, other measures may be needed to sustain one of the very few industries growing in New Jersey.

It is in the interest of New Jersey to develop renewable energy,  not only for our environment’ and lungs but for the following:

Before the new year is over, we may be at war with Iran and oil supplies from the Persian Gulf may be disrupted. Venezuela could also boycott the U.S. if we attack Iran. Brent crude is more expensive. Nigeria, one of our suppliers, is convulsed by civil unrest between christians ans muslims. There could be a change of government in Canada, another of our suppliers, and Canadians may take a closer look at the devastating effects of hydraulic fracturing in Alberta.

Emerging economies will continue to increase their use of fossil fuels, driving up prices.

Furthermore, with start-up, help, both solar and wind can become as efficient as conventional forms of energy generation. As I have stated before in this forum and others, it all depends on the cost of capitalization. We are not going to to be here just today. It is about time we start thinking about tomorrow.

Both industries are labor intensive and that means good paying jobs for New Jersians.

The Uncertainty Factor in Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas

Health Effects of Fracking for Natural Gas Need Study, Says CDC Scientist – Bloomberg.

With oil companies  bound  to close refineries in the Northeast and rather importing gasoline, the price of fuel for New Jersey motorists may increase substantially this summer and the oil and natural gas industries may renew their push to extend the drilling tentacles into New Jersey territory.

With offshore drilling for oil, I just have to remind everyone what happened in the Gulf of Mexico last year. A similar episode on the New Jersey shore would ruin the tourist industry and send coastal property values down in a dive.

We should be placing windmills rather than oil platforms offshore. That is my position and it will not change.

With natural gas (methane) hydraulic fracturing, the picture is a bit more blurred and the industry is doing what it can to sell the practice as safe and benign. But a top scientist at the CDC in Atlanta is calling for an exhaustive study on the potential health effects of the technique. However, unless that study cover multiple sites with a variety of rock formations and strata, we may get a distorted verdict which could err by defect or excess.

My point is that the dangers in hydraulic fracturing, HF, do not come only from the solutions injected at high pressure in the ground but on the substances that those injections may release from their natural state in different areas. Take for instance arsenic. It is a poison which occurs naturally. Some rocks have more than others. HF solutions will dissolve it at different rates and there is no question that those solutions will sooner or later migrate into aquifers through the soil like water expands into a sponge. HF solutions will be injected for years or decades. Their aggregate amounts will be enormous.

What is true for arsenic, is true for every other naturally occurring substance out there. Their concentrations vary. The damage they can cause is directly proportional to those concentrations. Arsenic, up to a certain level, I believe just causes hair loss. At some other level, it can kill. We can not gauge accurately the impact with one limited study.

It is because of those uncertainties rather than certainty on a quantifiable potential damage that I am opposed and will remain opposed to HF in New Jersey.

Germany’s Wind Mills Powered by Diesel Generators… For Now

Stress on the High Seas: Germany’s Wind Power Revolution in the Doldrums – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

These are lessons that we must learn: The two vital elements in renewable energy (RE) must proceed simultaneously: These are the generating equipment itself and the required grid infrastructure.

Some of the the windmill parks in the North Sea and Baltic are completed but the underground cables and transformer stations on land are not. The almost precipitous start of the program failed to coordinate the two indispensable elements: The generating units and their grid.

So the mills are being powered by diesel generators, covering the adjacent sea with diesel fumes. The reason is as simple as it is surprising. The wind farm operator, German utility RWE, has to keep the sensitive equipment — the drives, hubs and rotor blades — in constant motion, and for now that requires diesel-powered generators. Because although the wind farm will soon be ready to generate electricity, it won’t be able to start doing so because of a lack of infrastructure to transport the electricity to the mainland and feed it into the grid. The necessary connections and cabling won’t be ready on time and the delay could last up to a year.

What happened in Germany must not happen here. The development of RE in New Jersey must occur with the precision of clock work. Everything has to be synchronized so all the components are set to put together at the right time.

Despite all the lip service of the Christie administration toward RE, the fact is that the administration has been very shy in its approach. It looks more like a PR effort and not a genuine attempt to develop this vital industry of the future.

We can not expect that the private sector will jump into a risky enterprise alone. R&D almost inevitably require government and private sector cooperation. And the role of government is most effective in making capitalization cheaper.

The state government offers tax credits (REC) through the BPU. But REC do not balance out the risks for investors and therefore the latter have to pay a premium when borrowing capital. These high borrowing costs make the RE more expensive for consumers.

One of the main private companies involved with RE in New Jersey recently abandoned the state for the reasons mentioned just above.

The right approach is to offer investors Renewable Energy Payments, REP, which would lower the cost of the energy produced to the lowest level.   REP include several elements, not only protecting the investors (which again, lower their capitalization cost and therefore the price of their product) but also protecting the existing conventional utility companies and the public.

That is why the partnership of public and private sectors is essential in the development of this industry and why I see that the State of New Jersey has the responsibility of preventing the repeat of the German errors.

With this article, I close 2011 and I wish all a Very Happy New Year. Good Luck.

New Jersey Beware. The Natural Gas Act Allows Land Expropriation – Capitalist Style

In Louisiana, Twist in Fight Over Texaco Drilling Lease – NYTimes.com.

Under the Natural Gas Act, a corporation which is  a lessee of private land can sue the lessor to take over such land under the mantle of national security. New Jersey landowners beware: This can happen here too.

If elected governor of New Jersey in 2013, no hydraulic fracturing will be allowed in the  state nor will the state government allow any off-shore oil drilling.

Benzene, Methane, Other Chemicals Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing Found in Wyoming Wells

EPA sounds alarm on fracking in Wyoming – Dec. 9, 2011.

Studies are preliminary, the EPA says. The EPA advises to buy all water for drinking and cooking and showering with an exhaust fan on.

Now, methane is a gas at room temperature and I would say it is safe to cook with water containing some methane dissolved in it because it will evaporate.  After all I am a chemist so I am comfortable with chemicals.

When it comes to benzene, the tune is different. Benzene is a liquid at room temperature, and its boiling point at sea-level/1 atmosphere is 80 degrees C or 177 degrees Fahrenheit but that is for reagent-grade pure benzene. Any contaminants in the benzene – even its mixture with water – will increase its boiling point (and decrease its melting point) due to chemical laws. And there are thousands of derivatives of benzene with boiling points all over the place.

Therefore, as I have stated in other postings, there will be no fracking in New Jersey if I am elected governor in 2013.

New Jersey Energy Master Plan Just Adopted is Already Antiquated

Energy Master Plan

Is the promotion of wind mills in New Jersey Quixotic? I believe not. We need energy. Let’s obtain it in a safe and sustainable manner.

I am going to say, from start, that I am not an expert in energy not in the methods of generation. I am a chemist. However I do have a reasonably educated opinion on the matter at hand and I present it here:

1. The EMP promotes nuclear power. Unless we are ready to build the reactors below sea level so that they can be flooded by gravity in the event of a catastrophic accident – Fukushima style – I am inclined to disapprove of the method. I confess I did not think like that until Fukushima. I had always considered Chernobyl a Soviet problem. I supported nuclear. But Fukushima taught me otherwise. The foundation of most of my ideas today – in every field –  is empirical.  Experience should guide us on proven paths and inspiration should be explored with guarded caution, specially in public matters.

I am not sure that building nuclear reactors below sea level is feasible although I can not see why not. Sum pumps could be use to deal with groundwater seepage. Gated channels should connect the reactors to the open sea to be able to flood them if the cooling pumps fail.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the continental U.S. and perhaps in the entire country. A nuclear disaster would be terminal for the quality of life here.

2. Gas and fracking: Methane (natural gas) is a relatively clean fossil fuel although its combustion still generates CO2. But I have more problems with the methods used to obtain the methane: Hydraulic Fracking, for what I understand, involves the injection of chemicals at high pressure underground. There is no way that those chemicals will not reach at some point the aquifers from which New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania obtain large portions of their potable water. That is big trouble in the long run and I am determined that no hydraulic fracking will take place in New Jersey, if elected governor, and I would certainly not encourage it elsewhere.

Although the hydraulic fracturing fluid is between 98% and 99% water, the chemicals added to it can “release” and get into solution (dissolve and make fluid) other organic chemicals found in the subsoil. That includes the very hydrocarbons we look for.

Imagine for a moment the cost of building desalination plants in New Jersey because we have contaminated our aquifers. Or the human toll and monetary cost of increased number of cancers due to consumption of contaminated water.

3. I do support wind power for three reasons: a) It is clean and sustainable; b) It can be placed out of sight – at sea; c) It is labor-intensive so it would generate numerous skilled jobs with very good salaries.

Find an example in Germany, which is in the process of de-nuclearizing herself.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,792918,00.html

I can not make a representation of the short-term cost of wind. There is certainly a substantial capital investment at the start. I am much more confident that it would be cost effective long term. Above all, it does not risk our not-unlimited water supplies and when compared to oil in particular and fossil fuels in general, it makes New Jersey impervious to increasing oil prices or political problems in oil-producing regions.

4. I do support solar although that has been a somewhat convulsed industry lately.