Romanian villagers take on Chevron over shale gas

Yahoo – AFP, Isabelle Wesselingh, 13 April 2014

A police officer faces protesters holding banners reading "No to the shale
gas Bacesti village" on April 8, 2014 in Pungesti (AFP Photo/Mircea Restea)

Pungesti (Romania) (AFP) - US energy major Chevron, shielded by barbed wire, under police protection and under fire from egg throwers, is in trouble in Romania with villagers angry at its drive to drill for shale gas.

Opposition is fierce in the tiny remote village of Pungesti near the border with Moldova which has become a symbol of hostility to the environmentally controversial techniques of extracting shale gas.

“In other countries, I have not experienced this type of protest”, said grim-faced drill site-manager for Chevron, Greg Murphy.

Protesters throw eggs at a bus carrying

 journalists who visited the exploration

 well started by US energy giant Chevron

 in the village of Pungesti, on April 8, 2014

 (AFP Photo/Mircea Restea)

His words were almost drowned out by cries of "stop Chevron", "thieves", and "please leave" from dozens of demonstrators at the wire barriers as he showed journalists the site in the northeast of the country.

Various new techniques for extracting oil and gas, notably "fracking" involving the injection of water and chemicals deep into rock to release reserves, has lead to booming production in North America.

The flows of this cheap energy are causing upheaval on world markets in what the International Energy Agency describes as an energy revolution.

Demonstrators disrupt project

Chevron has broadened its attention to potential reserves in eastern Europe, especially in Poland and Romania.

But the company's attempts to establish its first exploration well in Romania were suspended twice at the end of 2013 owing to demonstrations by villagers.

Now the site is a "special security zone", and people in the area have to show identity papers.

Chevron has gone on a charm offensive with an "open day" bussing the media pack directly into the site in coaches to avoid contact with the local people.

But villagers outmanoeuvered the minders, made their way across fields and turned up uninvited to vent their anger as the Chevron executives showed journalists around.

One of the coaches came under fire from eggs. "We thought Chevron executives were inside," a demonstrator told AFP later.

Chevron representatives stand next
 to drilling equipment on April 8, 2014
 in Pungesti during a press visit (AFP
 Photo/Mircea Restea)

Chevron's country manager in Romania, Tom Holst, held that the objectors did not represent feeling in Pungesti, which includes several hamlets nestling in hills.

"I would say that people of Pungesti are very anxious for this project. There are benefits to be had and those benefits are jobs. There are approximately 60 locals who are working here on the project. About 30 from Pungesti," he said.

“Given the recent events in the Ukraine, countries are very, very concerned that they have energy security and that they are not dependent on imports,” he said referring to Russian intervention in Crimea and a big increase in the price of Russian gas for Ukraine.

Romania, unlike many countries in eastern and western Europe, is not heavily dependent on Russian gas since it produces gas itself, and last year imported from Russia only about 10 percent of its supplies, according to financial newspaper Ziarul Financiar.

But the main concern which drives opposition to the drilling is that fracking technology could seriously damage the environment below and above ground.

On this, too, Holst was reassuring.

"This is an exploration well," he said. "Hydraulic fracturing will not be used."

But many local people object that if the drilling finds gas, it will be only a matter of time until fracking techniques are used.

Their homes bear banners saying "I don't want fracking" or "Stop Chevron".

Cows, goats, and water

Mariana Morosanu, a 33-year-old local farmer who has cows, goats and chickens, referring to a common concern that underground water reserves could be contaminated, asks: "If it's not dangerous why did France ban fracking?"

Romanian farmer Mariana Morosanu

 takes care of her cows in Pungesti on

 April 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Mircea Restea)

She said: "My child passes through the garden and asks me: will I still be able to pick fruits, will the grass still grow? He looks at the hills and he asks me if they will remain this beautiful if Chevron starts drilling. I don't know what to answer ... People protest but Chevron goes on with its plans."

Catalin Scantei, a carpenter had the same concerns, and pointed to cracks in his house which he alleged had been caused by heavy traffic of lorries carrying drilling gear.

"Before people were calm, they lived their lives," he said. "Here in the village we work the fields and grow animals. But now if they poison our water and everything, what will we do?"

But the objecting villagers target the root of their wrath at Romanian officials, accusing them of "betrayal".

The Social Democrat Party of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, when in opposition, opposed exploration for shale gas but is now fervently in favour.

"Unfortunately, our politicians do not care about the population," Mariana asserted.

For Chevron, Holst was confident: “We expect that within the next two to three weeks, the drilling operation will commence here in Pungesti,” he said.

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Wave goodbye to global warming, GM and pesticides

Radio wave-treated water could change agriculture as we know it. Its Irish pioneers meet Tom Prendeville

Independent.ie, 25 August 2013

MIRACLE GROW: Treated water results
 in larger, healthier crops, says Professor
Austin Darragh of Limerick University

A GROUNDBREAKING new Irish technology which could be the greatest breakthrough in agriculture since the plough is set to change the face of modern farming forever.

The technology – radio wave energised water – massively increases the output of vegetables and fruits by up to 30 per cent.

Not only are the plants much bigger but they are largely disease-resistant, meaning huge savings in expensive fertilisers and harmful pesticides.

Extensively tested in Ireland and several other countries, the inexpensive water treatment technology is now being rolled out across the world. The technology makes GM obsolete and also addresses the whole global warming fear that there is too much carbon dioxide in the air, by simply converting excess CO2 into edible plant mass.

Developed by Professor Austin Darragh and Dr JJ Leahy of Limerick University's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, the hardy eco-friendly technology uses nothing but the natural elements of sunlight, water, carbon dioxide in the air and the minerals in the soil.

The compact biscuit-tin-sized technology, which is called Vi-Aqua – meaning 'life water' – converts 24 volts of electricity into a radio signal, which charges up the water via an antennae. Once the device is attached to a hose, thousands of gallons of water can be charged up in less than 10 minutes at a cost of pennies.

Speaking about the new technology, Professor Austin Darragh says:

"Vi-Aqua makes water wetter and introduces atmospheric nitrogen into the water in the form of nitrates – so it is free fertiliser. It also produces the miracle of rejuvenating the soil by invigorating soil-based micro-organisms.

"We can also make water savings of at least 30 per cent. When the water is treated it becomes a better solvent, which means it can carry more nutrients to the leaves and stem and percolate better down into the soil to nourish the roots, which in turn produces a better root system. Hence the reason you need less water and why you end up with larger and hardier crops," explains Professor Austin Darragh.

Extensively tested in Warrenstown Agricultural College, the technology is being hailed as a modern day miracle.

Harold Lawler is Ireland's foremost Agricultural Specialist. As Director of the National Botanical Gardens and former Master of Agricultural Science at Warrenstown Agricultural College, he has carried out more research on Vi-Aqua growth-enhancing technology than perhaps anyone else in the world:

"In the bedding plants we really saw a difference in the results; they were much hardier and tougher. You could drop a tray of these plants on the ground and they would not shatter, like ordinary plants.

"We also noticed that the treated plants needed far less fertiliser than the untreated ones. The roots took the nutrients in better whereas with other normal plants leaching of minerals occurs," explains Harold Lawler.

Impressed, Harold Lawler's research team carried out further extensive tests on a wide variety of vegetable plants:

"The iceberg lettuces were far superior with faster germination, and with carrots for example, the crops were on average 46 per cent heavier," explains Harold Lawler.

During recent successful tomato crop field trials in Italy, three of the country's largest Agricultural Co-op's were so impressed with the results that they have now decided to recommend the technology to the country's farming community.

Elsewhere, the Indian government have now concluded their own tests, which confirm that they are able to boost tea (plant) production by over a third while using far less water.

In recognition of the groundbreaking technology, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London, recently took the hitherto unheard-of step of granting Professor Austin Darragh and his team the right to use their official centuries-old coat of arms on the new technology – the first time ever that Kew Gardens has afforded anyone such an honour.

The Kew Gardens botanists were not just impressed with the research; they used the technology to restore to life a very rare orchid which had been lying dormant and practically dead in a greenhouse bell jar since 1942. Amazingly, the orchid is now flourishing once again.

Intriguingly, chickens and sheep fed the energised water turned into giants. . . but that's another story!

Limerick University off- campus company ZPM Europe Ltd, who are based in the National Technology Park, Limerick, is now manufacturing the Vi-Aqua technology.

Sunday Independent

Shale gas ban in France to remain, says Hollande

BBC News, 15 July 2013

Related Stories

• 'Far more' UK shale gas resources
• Company to apply for more fracking

Francois Hollande continues to face
pressure to lift the ban on fracking

French President Francois Hollande has again ruled out exploration for shale gas during his presidency.

The comments come as a French court was due to examine an appeal against a government ban on "fracking".

France has some of the most plentiful reserves of shale gas in Europe, but there are objections to shale exploration on environmental grounds.

"As long as I am president, there will be no exploration for shale gas in France," Mr Hollande told French TV.

France's top court was this week due to examine a challenge to the ban on fracking - the process by which shale gas is released - by Schuepbach Energy, which held two exploration permits that were cancelled when the law was passed in 2011.

Supporters of drilling for shale gas say it would help boost the ailing French economy, and they point to the example of the United States where the shale revolution has led to a fall in gas prices.

French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg sparked debate when he suggested creating a state-backed company to examine exploration for shale.

But he was promptly overruled by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

And now Mr Hollande has also re-affirmed the government's position.

"The debate on shale gas has gone on for too long," he said.

Scheupbach Energy challenged the ban in the local court of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris, which forwarded the case to France's highest administrative court, which then passed it on to the Constitutional Council.

Hydraulic fracking involves releasing gas trapped in rocks by pumping in water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure.

Critics say shale gas drilling can poison underground water and even cause earth tremors.

The technique is used widely in Canada and the US, but has sparked controversy in Europe, including in the UK where shale gas exploration is planned.

Infographic showing shale gas extraction

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Father Laiu Fights to Save Rural Romania From Fracking

Jakarta Globe - AFP, Isabelle Wesselingh, June 9, 2013

Vasile Laiu, the Christian Orthodox archpriest of Barlad, takes part in a protest
 against shale gas exploition in Barlad city, 290km northeast from Bucharest,
on May 27, 2013. (AFP Photo/Daniel Mihailescu)

Barlad. As Orthodox priest Vasile Laiu gazes over the picturesque hills of eastern Romania, he prays they will be spared the shale gas wells and drilling rigs dotting some US landscapes.

For months the 50-year-old cleric has been one of the most outspoken opponents to plans by US energy giant Chevron to drill for shale gas in this rural and impoverished region.

Clad in his black cassock, Father Laiu has joined thousands of locals in street protests against a project he says “threatens man, nature and future generations”.

Growing up in an oil-producing region, he is not an enemy of the energy industry, he insists.

But like many he opposes the controversial drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”

It involves injecting huge amounts of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, at high pressures to break up rock formations and release the gas.

Widely used in some US states such as Pennsylvania and Colorado, it has been banned in Vermont as well as in France and Bulgaria because of potential air and water pollution.

When the mayor of the eastern town of Barlad banned a rally against fracking last April, Laiu welcomed the protesters in his church.

“The Church does not interfere in politics but if the health or life of only one of my fellow men is put in danger, it is my duty as a priest to intervene,” he told AFP in an interview.

Laiu, the top Orthodox priest in the Barlad region, has spent more than half of his life serving the villages. After the fall of communism in 1989 he watched his parishioners fight for jobs and farmers try to make ends meet in the new capitalist economy.

But since 2011, when Chevron obtained a 600,000-hectare (1.5 million-acre) concession to look for shale gas, the region has been caught in a new battle about its future.

Its promoters say shale gas extraction can create jobs, slash energy prices and provide a boost for the Barlad economy plagued by 10 percent unemployment, the highest rate in Romania.

Others dismiss the shale frenzy as a temporary fad that could cause lasting damage to the environment and public health. Thanks to the globalized world, the Oscar-nominated documentary “Gasland” and testimonies from American families about health problems they believe are linked to shale gas drilling have reached this far-flung corner of Romania.

A 2012 study by Duke University in the US state of North Carolina showed that drinking water wells are at risk of contamination from fracking because of underground pathways.

Father Laiu’s main fears are over water. The area suffers from droughts, and fracking needs enormous amounts of water — up to 20,000 cubic meters (706,000 cubic feet) — per well, according to industry figures.

Four-year-old daughter died from a tumor

The disposal of wastewater laced with corrosive salts, carcinogens and natural radioactive elements is another worry in an area where villagers grow their own fruit and vegetables and raise livestock.

“I have three children and I want them to grow up in a safe environment with clean water,” said Alina Secriaru, a nurse from Barlad.

“Who will be willing to buy wheat, cheese or fruit” if millions of liters of toxic water are handled in the region?, Laiu asks.

Chevron spokeswoman Sally Jones stressed to AFP that it “operates at the highest standards in terms of safety and environmental protection”.

The company “remains committed to being a responsible partner in Romania… actively contributing to the local communities in which it operates”, she added.

But Father Laiu says the villagers are being ignored: “Parishioners found prospecting equipment sinking pipes into fields without prior notice. Then they saw the walls crack” on their buildings, he said.

The priest’s steadfast stance has impressed many.

“He stayed with us when politicians who were on our side last year abandoned us,” said notary and anti-fracking campaigner Lulu Finaru.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s centre-left coalition, including the Barlad mayor and local MPs, had initially slammed the previous government’s decision to grant shale gas concessions.

Ponta, in power since May 2012, even put a moratorium on drilling.

But since that moratorium expired in December, the PM and rival President Traian Basescu have become leading European supporters of shale energy.

A US study estimated the joint reserves for Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary at around 538 billion cubic metres, possibly making it the biggest deposit in eastern Europe.

“Britain and Poland are looking to exploit shale gas. I do not think they would do something bad for the people,” Barlad Mayor Constantin Constantinescu now argues.

But Laiu remains determined to make the voice of the locals heard.

“Years ago, my four-year old daughter died from a tumour. When I asked the doctor why, he answered: ‘Only God knows, father. But we are too close to Chernobyl and that could be the cause’.

“I cannot remain indifferent when the environment is concerned. Life is more valuable than any money they offer us,” Laiu said.

Agence France-Presse

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Fracking evokes 'angst' in Germany

North American firms quit shale gas fracking in Poland

Fracking evokes 'angst' in Germany

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2013

Germans are concerned about the risks of fracking, a method to extract oil and gas: Chancellor Angela Merkel sends out words of caution, environmental experts say it’s dispensable. But in Europe, fracking is on the rise.

aThere is hardly anything that Germans are as much afraid of as environmental risks in the soil. Thousands take to the streets regularly against plans to store nuclear waste deep underground. And lately, there have been active initiatives against fracking - despite the technique not yet being commercially used on a large scale. At least not in Germany.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it is more commonly known, is a method to release petroleum or natural gas from rock formations by injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals deep underground at high pressure. Oil and gas can then be extracted; but parts of the chemical cocktail remain in the soil. That's why environmental experts warn that fracking could pollute the groundwater.

Fracking has experienced a boom over recent years in the United States. Experts have said the US could soon even overtake Russia as the world's top gas producer. There are calculations that suggest Germany could satisfy its own gas demand for 13 years if it decided to use the controversial extraction method. Fracking was done to a limited degree in Germany until US fracking activities triggered a controversial debate. Companies had to stop all fracking activities in Germany as a result.

Recommendation to forego

Environmental advisor Martin
Faulstich: Forego fracking

The fracking stop came at a time when Germany is actually seeking out new sources of energy. After the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown, Berlin decided to phase out all nuclear energy by the mid-2020s.

But the government's advisory council on the environment (SRU) warned of risks fracking may pose. The experts said they had too many concerns outweighed the potential benefits of fracking. They also said Germany didn't need additional gas supplies from complicated and costly sources. Instead of fracking, the SRU experts said they still favored wind and solar power.

"That's why we've recommended that we forego fracking here in Germany," the council's chairman Martin Faulstich told DW.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has not openly shown interest in pursuing fracking in Germany. In a phone consultation with fellow party members she said, "We have to do everything we can to avoid environmental risks." Her government, she added aimed to "limit [fracking] and to make its use more complicated and make the method more environmentally friendly in comparison to its current legal status."

Under current law, fracking falls under the statues established for the mining industry. Those regulations provide owners of a mine with a great deal of latitude on their operations.

Unsuitable topic for general elections

Germany's ruling coalition of Christian conservatives and junior partner free market liberal FDP have now put forward a draft law which would ban fracking in water protection areas. In other areas, strict environmental compatibility studies would have to be carried out, which in practice would amount to a ban.

"Under current circumstances, we can rule out fracking," was how Hermann Gröhe, the secretary general of governing party CDU, said of the topic.

Many in Merkel's Christian Democratic Union want the draft law to go even further. They are worried that the fear of chemicals in the soil could benefit the Greens party in the election campaign. That's why they're now campaigning for a proper ban - as are the Greens. Many German states that are governed by opposition parties SPD and Greens also want to see fracking banned. They have the majority in the German Bundesrat, Germany's upper house of parliament. That's why the fracking law would not stand a chance at the moment anyway.

Campaigners are concerned about potential groundwater pollution

Beer brewers have also put up resistance in Bavaria. They are concerned about the purity of the groundwater. That's why the CSU, the CDU's sister party that governs the state of Bavaria, is also against fracking. Currently, the FDP - with Economy Minister Philipp Rösler at the forefront - is the only political party which speaks out in favor of at least assessing the possibilities of the extraction method in Germany.

Pressure from Europe

In Europe, Germany comparably isolated in its opposition to fracking. Others frown when they're confronted with the German concerns - even German nationals. EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger this week complained that the EU needed a radical overhaul.

He said the bloc was in a "truly abysmal state," and he criticized the German government for its policies. Oettinger, a top member of Angela Merkel's CDU party himself, said Germany was strong, but it couldn't get any stronger because the government was setting the wrong agenda, by focusing on "childcare benefits, a women's quota, minimum wages; and then they say no to fracking."

In many EU countries, fracking is popular, particularly in central and eastern Europe, where many - like Poland - still rely on climate-unfriendly sources of energy like coal. They would prefer to switch to less harmful shale gas. Hungary, Poland, Romania, but also Spain and Britain are in favor of fracking.

Amid ongoing anti-fracking protests, Romania's head of government Victor Ponta called on his people to "not be deterred from the right path which the US have already embarked on". It will take a long time before Germany embarks on that path - if at all.

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

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