A Santos Project in East Java, Indonesia has been declared a disaster zone after an exploration well could not be contained in 2006. The well spews out 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of hot, volcanic mud every day and has already displaced 50,000 people, submerged homes, factories and schools. The question has to be asked: what guarantees of environmental safety were these poor people given during exploration and what are these guarantees worth now?

Santos were made aware of the potentially unstable Hunter Mooki Fault System here at the recent community meeting at Blackville. We don’t want an unnatural disaster here in the Liverpool Plains!

CSG extraction also requires the dewatering of the aquifers contained with the gas which means these deep bores (>800m) will be puncturing through our good water supplies and the prospect of contamination between supplies is real. Just like for coal.

Water found with CSG is always highly saline and has the potential to contain heavy metals, sorbed on the surface or compounded within the fine suspended particulate matter, yet another environmental hazard. CSG water has to be ponded, trucked out, or forced back into the ground under pressure. The sheer volume of this ‘waste water’ is a huge concern as is the potential for ‘good water’ to migrate towards the coal seam voids and depletion of quality water aquifer pressures due to unloading changes caused by water and gas extraction. Heavy machine-based fracturing of the coal seam to get the gas to flow can also lead to unpredictable venting of CSG which readily poisons the soil and water supplies above, yet another potential hazard with this ‘cleaner’ fuel.

As the General Manager of Sydney Gas (drilling in picturesque Wollombi) said “I’m not going to say there’s a zero chance of water contamination”. Same old mining story. A fuller description of CSG hazards by independent consultants is available here.

Be sure to check out the Caroona Coal Action Group by following this link here: http://www.ccag.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=89

Read the report: COAL BED METHANE HAZARDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES,

by C. M. ATKINSON, January 2005.

or click here for the latest report from Caroona Coal Action Group on CSG

http://www.ccag.org.au/images/stories/pdfs/aust_csm_report.pdf

Coal bed methane gas (CBM, or coal seam methane)

“Coal seam gas refers to methane sorbed into the solid matrix of the coal. The presence of this gas is well known from its occurrence in underground coal mining, where it presents a serious safety risk. Coal bed methane is distinct from a typical sandstone or other conventional gas reservoir, as the methane is stored within the coal by a process called adsorption. The methane is in a near-liquid state, lining the inside of pores within the coal (called the matrix). The open fractures in the coal (called the cleats) can also contain free gas or can be saturated with water.” [1]

This coal gas can be extracted by various drilling techniques and used as the natural petroleum gas.

For more information and a comprehensive description, click here to go to Hunter Gas Action group. http://www.huntergasactiongroup.com.au/hgcbm.html

“The solar train could travel from Tucson to Phoenix in 30 minutes and might someday run from Nogales to the Grand Canyon.” Image credit: excerpted from image provided by Daily Star.

The solar powered mag-lev train proposal we wrote about in Magnetic Train Proposed: Detroit To Lansing Michigan …seemed too technologically elaborate and expensive to be realistic. How about just bring back the level of train service that was once the norm – and upgrade existing rails to get the trains back on time – was the general reaction?

A solar train in Arizona seems somehow more sensible. Especially because it does not involve superconducting magnets and hydrogen batteries. Read on and see what you think.AzStarBus explains the design concept in their story: High-speed solar train proposed as Tucson-Phoenix connection

The idea is to start a train system that connects Tucson and Phoenix in a first phase. In the future it would extend north to Grand Canyon and south to Nogales. The cost for the first phase alone is estimated at $27 billion.

It could start operating in 2018.

Retired civil engineer Bill Gaither and business partner Raymond Wright set up Solar Bullet LLC in Tucson in hopes of designing and building the 220 mph solar bullet train, which would run on four tracks…The train would require 110 megawatts of electricity and would operate with solar power generated from overhead panels. It would have a dedicated right-of-way.

More intriguing train proposals.Bombardier ‘Green Train’ Uses 20-30% Less Fuel Than Other Trains …Who Said Taking the Train was Boring? Swinging on San Francisco’s …Algae-Powered Big Rig That Transforms Into A Locomotive