Earlier this week, Marrickville City Council in suburban Sydney blocked an attempt to mine coal seam gas on privately owned land in the inner-city area of St Peters. The Council imposed a condition on…
Under the new regulations, exploration at Pilliga would still have gone ahead.
Kate Ausburn
In NSW the last 12 months has seen a quantum leap in the government focus on coal seam gas (CSG).
In December 2010 the then-Labor NSW state government introduced a moratorium on gas well fracking. They…
How Queenslanders vote may affect parts of the Great Barrier Reef such as Heron Island.
AAP/Heron Island
Queensland is different from other states in that it only has a lower house. In other states minor parties achieve representation in upper houses — and therefore have a role in government — through proportional…
UNESCO is reviewing whether more needs to be done to preserve the reef's heritage listing.
AAP
Obtaining a World Heritage listing for a national asset is a source of great pride for any country. The Taj Mahal (1983), Borobudur (1991) and Uluru (2007) are examples where countries have obtained the…
A new national partnership agreement could allay a lot of CSG worries, if the states sign up.
kateausburn/Flickr
A new national agreement designed to protect water resources from coal seam gas extraction and coal mining could offer a level of protection so far unseen in Australian environmental legislation. Any states…
Queenslanders don't like coal seam gas, but a smart government could change all that.
AAP
Three little words strike fear into the heart of at least 40% of Queenslanders: coal seam gas. These three seemingly innocuous words have managed to divide a state, and become the hottest topic in the…
Shutting down shale gas is a short-cut to reducing emissions.
alienscapes/Flickr
In the US, as in Australia, debate about the merits of alternative gases has been heated. In the US the contentious gas is shale, rather than coal seam. But at least one source of conflict is the same…
Coal's heyday is coming to a close, but is gas a long-term solution?
Guy Gorek
The past few years have seen the rapid expansion of the coal seam and shale gas industry. Combine this expansion with the recent introduction of a price on carbon here in Australia, and you end up with…
The Federal Government's draft energy white paper outlines a future where Australia still depends on fossil fuels.
AAP
The release of Australia’s draft energy white paper has outlined a future where Australia continues to be largely dependent on fossil fuels, embraces uranium and expands existing deregulation and privatisation…
If we're going to talk about how safe CSG is (or isn't), we need to look at the full picture.
AAP/Origin Energy
The Mineral Resources Rent Tax passed through the House of Representatives last week, but not without negotiations with the Greens and independent MPs.
Perhaps the most significant outcome of negotiations…
Farmers have been shocked to find coal seam exploration companies can enter their property.
kateausburn
All over Australia, landowners are fighting to keep mining companies off their property.
From the Darling Downs to the Liverpool Plains, farmers have been locking out coal seam gas extraction companies…
Understandably, farmers get worried when they think their water is under threat.
Phil Schubert
There are many good reasons why the general public, and in particular farmers, are concerned about coal seam gas (CSG) extraction. There are major gaps in our knowledge about the future impacts of CSG…
It could take years to learn more about the impacts of CSG, but can we afford to wait?
AAP/Alan Porritt
By Malcolm Cox, Queensland University of Technology
Independent MP Tony Windsor has said he won’t back the government’s Mineral Resources Rent Tax unless more is done to make coal seam gas mining sustainable.
He has called for $200-400 million annually…
Is enough being done to analyse industry's effects on the environment?
howardignatius
The Queensland port city of Gladstone has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately.
Fish and other marine life have been infected by a strange parasite that seemed to make the leap to humans…
Fishing has been banned in Gladstone while authorities try to determine what's killing marine species.
robstephaustralia
Several individuals have required medical attention after a mystery disease appeared to spread to humans from fish in waters near Gladstone, Queensland.
Fishing bans are currently in place and local residents…
Coal seam gas mining can create 5 million litres of "produced" water per well.
Jeremy Buckingham MLC
Last week, the Federal Government’s National Water Commission (NWC) delivered its third biannual assessment of the national water initiative (NWI). And for the first time, the NWC is looking seriously…
The debate about coal seam gas drilling in Australia is intensifying, amid calls from The Greens to further investigate its emissions profile.
So what is the emissions profile of coal seam gas? How does…
Farmers are worried about their land and water, but governments want their gas.
AAP
Food security and energy security are paramount to the survival and growth of Australia. Food security so that we may feed ourselves (and a hungry world), and energy security for transport, heating, lighting…
Debate is intensifying over the extraction of coal seam gas, particularly in NSW and Queensland. Farmers are protesting over safety concerns and threats to the country’s food security.
The Greens and…
The movie Gasland galvanised the public on the dangers of fracking.
Gasland
Fracking. It’s a hotbed of controversy that spans our increasingly energy-hungry globe.
The French have turned their back on it. Permanently. And now the NSW government has temporarily frozen the use…
Is all the fuss over coal seam gas warranted?
Lock the Gate/Flickr
In collaboration with The Drum, The Conversation is giving statements made by public figures the fine-tooth-comb treatment they deserve.
Today, a new energy source, and its dangers:
“Coal seam gas is…
There's more to natural gas than Gasland.
lilicomanche/flickr
Senator Christine Milne has declared coal seam gas to be “a disaster for Australia,” and there’s much concern in the community about its effect on the environment.
Some of this concern stems from horror…
Coal seam gas drilling exposes us to chemicals we know nothing about.
AAP
Coal seam gas is indeed a potential disaster if present attitudes and lack of regulatory control prevail.
An important part of public health is to enact precautions based on potential impacts.
The CSG…
Poor regulation overseas has set the stage for disaster.
AAP
The last week has seen the Australian coal seam gas (CSG) industry come under increasing scrutiny. Triggered by a gas explosion in the Darling Downs in Queensland, and legal action against BHP in the US…
Much coal seam gas water sits there going to waste.
SkyTruth/flickr
The Coal Seam Gas (CSG) industry constitutes an interesting opportunity for Australia. We could get a lot of positive things out of CSG. But it does produce a lot of “waste water”: if things go badly…
Coal seam gas drilling threatens our most arable land.
«Jonny Boy»/flickr
Coal seam gas has been touted by some as the answer to our addiction to dirty coal. It’s marketed as a “transition fuel” that will ween us off fossil fuels as we move to renewable energy.
But the process…
In a coal-abundant nation trying to go green, coal seam gas drilling offers us a cleaner source of energy.
But there is a draw back.
Many coal seam wells will require fraccing and the community is concerned…
