April 2013, Interview
August 2012, Video (4:27)
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences is partner of the Science Year 2012 “Project Earth: Our Future”.
26.05.2015
Water Protection, Legislation
The members of the expert group on hydraulic fracturing chemicals within the Water Chemistry Society, German Chemical Society (GDCh), together with scientists from North America, have commented on the German draft law on hydraulic fracturing, which[...]read more
08.05.2015
Water Protection
Like other rock formations, shales can contain high concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), e.g. radium, uranium and thorium. NORM as a potential contaminant for ground water may be released to the environment by[...]read more
24.04.2015
Water Protection
Fracture propagation during shale gas hydraulic fracturing Kim and Moridis, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences. March 2015. Link to abstract. A recently published study on numerical simulations of fracture propagation[...]read more
17.04.2015
Generic
Polish exploration for shale gas, including hydraulic fracturing, had not significantly affected the state of the environment. That is the main outcome of a project called “An assessment of environmental risks caused by the process of prospecting,[...]read more
02.04.2015
Legislation
On 1st April the German Bundeskabinett (Germany´s government) introduced a bill regulating hydraulic fracturing in Germany. The bill addresses mainly "unconventional" hydraulic fracturing in shales and coal seams. There are also some[...]read more
31.03.2015
Water Protection
The full disclosure of chemicals used in fracturing fluids has been urged for for years by scientists, politicians, and the public. At the same time, manufacturers of fracturing fluids claim trade secrets to protect some of their chemicals from[...]read more
19.03.2015
Water Protection
A systematic evaluation of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids is necessary for a thorough assessment of the potential environmental impact of these substances. Beyond that, the complex composition of flowback water needs to be scrutinised[...]read more
12.03.2015
Generic
A new book by Mike Stephenson, Chief Scientist of the British Geological Survey. The shale gas debate (pro and con) is highly polarised in the US and Europe. Information on the web, in the media, or on gas company websites is often biased,[...]read more
05.03.2015
Generic
The Shale Gas Information Platform SHIP is pleased to announce that we are back on the case after two months of quiescence. New funding for SHIP has been provided by the German Research Centre of Geosciences - GFZ. Strengthening the scientific[...]read more
04.03.2015
Generic
The article "Fracking in the Polish press: Geopolitics and national identity" (Energy Policy, Volume 74, November 2014) presents the results of a thematic content analysis of articles reporting on shale gas/fracking published in Gazeta[...]read more
17.12.2014
Water Protection
By Dr. Bernd Wiese The paper by Cai & Ofterdinger (2014) aims to identify the conditions under which hydraulic fracturing of the Bowland Shale in central Britain could contaminate groundwater in St. Bees Sandstone (600-1000 m below ground[...]read more
12.12.2014
Generic
In a new position paper, published in November 2014, the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) takes a position on shale gas production in Germany. The opinion now omits statements such as "fracking is and remains risky technology", which was[...]read more
05.12.2014
Generic
The Polish Geological Survey, performed by the Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, launched the website infolupki on hydrocarbons in particular shale gas and shale oil that is now available in Polish and English. The key goal[...]read more
03.12.2014
Generic
Helen Etchanchu is a PhD candidate in Management/Strategy at ESSEC Business School in Cergy, France. She holds a BBA from the University of the Pacific, CA, USA and an MBA from ESSEC Business School. Her research interests include institutional[...]read more
05.11.2014
Generic
A commentary, “Truth and Lies about Hydraulic Fracturing” by Prof. Terry Engelder, was published in the magazine ‘AAPG* Explorer’. Prof Engelder has experience of hydraulic fracturing of gas shales since the 1970s and gained notoriety in 2007 when[...]read more
30.10.2014
Water Protection
A central theme of all conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells is well integrity. The concept of “well integrity failure“ in connection with shale gas production (see SHIP News) is based on the assumption that either the borehole between[...]read more
23.10.2014
Climate Impact
Dr. Thorsten Warneke discusses the following scientific papers by Howarth, R.W. (2014) and Heath et al (2014) Two recent articles come to different conclusions regarding the impact of shale gas on climate. Natural gas is generally considered to be[...]read more
22.10.2014
Generic
On 25th September, 2014, the North Atlantic Group of the European Geological Surveys published their concerns on the socio-political consequences of misleading media reports on the exploration and exploitation of raw materials. Above all their[...]read more
16.10.2014
Water Protection, Operations
The origin of methane found in private water wells in shale gas regions of the US has been discussed for many years. Several possibilities or mechanisms have been suggested, such as 1) in situ naturally generated methane (e.g. in peat and/or swamp[...]read more
16.10.2014
Climate Impact
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released data from its annual Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. In 2013, reported emissions from large industrial facilities were 20 million metric tons higher than the prior year, or 0.6 percent, driven[...]read more
An Initiative of
SHIP
Shale Gas Information Platform
