Chinese plans to expand fracking for shale gas prompt fears over local water and international climate impacts

China is ratcheting up its fracking ambitions with virtually no regard for groundwater protection or other environmental safety measures, according to a new investigation by the independent publication Caixin. The report points to an 24 October white paper on energy development released by China's top cabinet which "calls for ramping up the industry and pumping 6.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from underground shale formations by 2015."

"The model for China's anticipated success is the US shale gas sector," the article states. "Geologists estimate the nation's recoverable reserves at about 25 trillion cubic meters, on par with the United States."

Fracking has particular appeal in China because it provides an alternative to burning coal, which currently supplies about 70 percent of the nation's consumed energy. Because natural gas can generate electricity at half the greenhouse gas emissions of coal, some see it as a way to reduce China's carbon footprint.

But fracking isn't without environmental problems, as I and my colleagues at Mother Joneshave reported before. And Caixin's review of government documents as well as interviews with industry sources, government officials, and environmental advocates reveal that fracking's risks have not come under public scrutiny the way they have in the US, "much less addressed by the [Chinese] government or controlled via environmental laws."

If fracking takes off in China as planned, it will likely exacerbate the nation's existing water crisis. "Most of the nation's shale gas lies in areas plagued by water shortages," the report says. With about 20 percent of the world's population and only 6 percent of the world's water resources, China is one of the least water-secure countries in the world. Its water shortages are made worse by pollution: According to the Ministry of Water Resources about 40 percent of China's rivers were so polluted they were deemed unfit for drinking, while about 300 million rural residents lack access to safe drinking water each year.

In order to reach the government's annual shale gas production goal of 6.5 billion cubic meters by 2015, as many as 1,380 wells will need to be drilled across the country, requiring up to 13.8 million cubic meters of water, an industry source told Caixin. China's industrial sector already consumes about 35 billion cubic meters of water a year. That amount of water would fill about 14 million Olympic-size swimming pools.

There's also serious risk of water contamination, as seen in the US fracking experience. Multiple studies in recent years including those by the EPA, Pennsylvania, and Duke University have concluded that shale gas drilling releases methane which can contaminate nearby water supplies. A 2009 ProPublica investigation found methane contamination from fracking was widespread in Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. But as Caixin reports, "there would be no legal reason to limit methane emissions at a shale gas well because China's pollution standards do not cover methane." One Ministry of Environmental Protection source told the publication that writing a new standard into law would take three years, "which helps explain why the State Council's decision to fast-track the nation's fledgling shale gas industry is making a lot of people nervous."

Groundwater in 57 percent of China's 660 cities have already been significantly polluted, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

An unidentified source at China's Ministry of Land Resources told Caixin that as shale gas development accelerates the government will likely introduce specific environmental policies to address fracking, such as groundwater protection. But these are not likely to be legally binding, an industry source told the publication.

Perhaps a bigger concern is that China's main energy and economic planning agencies, including the Ministry of Land Resources, seem to view fracking's environmental risks as minimal or inflated:

The MLR geological department source said, for example, that China's shale gas is at least 3,000 meters and sometimes 4,000 meters underground—significantly deeper than aquifers, and separated from underground water by impermeable rock.

Other industry sources argue that fracking fluids, which are mainly comprised of water and sand, break down naturally over a short time. And chemical additives make up less than 0.5 percent of what's injected, they say.

Similarly upbeat arguments against environmental fretting can be found in the government's development plan for the period ending in 2015. It was jointly issued by four agencies including the National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Bureau.

Meanwhile, Caixin reported that one test fracking operation in Shaanxi Province—a major coal region in China's dry North—recently "went awry, forcing local officials to temporarily cut a nearby city's water supply."

Commercial fracking operations in China have not yet started, according to Caixin's report, but some Chinese companies have drilled test wells, and the government has begun selling chunks of designated fracking territory. In its latest round of auctioning shale-gas exploration blocks, for example, the Ministry of Land Resources awarded two blocks to Sinopec and Henan Coal Seam Gas Development and Utilization Co, in deals worth an estimated $128.5 million.

Foreign companies including Royal Dutch Shell are also showing interest in China's fracking plans. Shell announced earlier this month that it had shale gas agreements with three major Chinese oil companies. Caixin also reported in September that Shell was in talks with one company about a shale gas joint venture. ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and France-based Total are also working to form shale gas partnerships with Chinese oil and gas companies, according to an August National Geographic report.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/27/china-planning-huge-fracking-industry

The high-profile emphasis on environmental protection at the Communist Party's 18th national congress was eye-catching. The news immediately boosted the A shares of environment-related industries, and spurred industry demands for timely information on the environment.

China's development to become the world's second-largest economy over the past 30 years has come at a heavy environmental price. Environmental management as a whole has been deteriorating despite minor improvements, while mass protests related to environmental issues have been on the rise. At the congress, officials pledged to improve environmental assessment, strengthen accountability and raise public awareness. To do this, they must insist on transparency.

On that note, it's disturbing that a long-awaited national survey on soil pollution has not seen the light of day. The study, a joint project of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources that started in 2006, was the first of its kind in China. The aim was to find out the extent of land pollution across the country, so measures, legislative and otherwise, could be taken to tackle the problem. The study was reportedly completed in 2010.

Yet, to date, the findings have not been made public; no effective action has been taken to clean up polluted land or assist those affected; no individual or group has been held seriously accountable for any damage; and no law has been introduced. The president's report at the congress identified environmental problems as a public health issue. It named three major types of pollution - water, air and soil - and called for strengthened measures to control and prevent pollution.

All three types of pollution are equally harmful, though the damage caused by soil pollution is not always easy to detect. The "itai-itai disease", a weakening of the bones caused by cadmium poisoning, is a dreaded pollution-induced disease in Japan. In China, high levels of cadmium have been detected in the blood, urine and hair of people living in rural areas, as documented by a 2011 Caixin report. What's worrying is that the extent of cadmium's harm to the body is still not fully known.

Soil pollution in China is among the worst the world has seen, according to data released in 2006 by the Ministry of Environmental Protection: some 150 million mu (10 million hectares) of the country's arable land was found to be polluted, while 32.5 million mu was being irrigated with contaminated water. In addition, 2 million mu of land was used as dumpsites. That adds up to a total of 184.5 million mu of polluted land, a tenth of the 1.8 billion mu of arable land in China. Also, it is estimated that every year, up to 12 million tonnes of food - or 20billion yuan's (HK$25billion) worth - are contaminated by heavy metal.

Inside sources told the media that even this did not reflect the full scale of the problem as the data was collected in the 1990s, and the situation would be far worse now. Late last month, the State Council introduced a plan to restore polluted soil, yet we're still waiting to be told the latest figures.

Officials fear that telling the truth would upset their prized "social stability". But this fear is unreasonable. Three years ago, a study by the Housing Ministry on the quality of drinking water in bigger cities found that only 58.2per cent of the 4,000 cities surveyed enjoyed water that met official standards. But the results were not released until a Caixin report this May forced the ministry to make public the report. The publication of this information did not upset stability; instead, it spurred the community to reach a consensus on pollution control.

The authorities must release the findings of their soil pollution surveys as soon as possible, for the sake of the well-being of its people and for the country as a whole.

People have the right to know if their living environment and farmlands are polluted and, if so, to what extent. They need this information to assess the risks they face and to work out the appropriate countermeasures to take. Transparency can reduce people's suspicion of the government and avert radical protests.

Moreover, such crucial information will help shape the formulation of future preventive measures. We also need to find out who the polluters are and penalise them, or else the country will surely suffer even more serious pollution.

More importantly, this concerns the credibility of the government. According to regulations on the disclosure of government information, enacted in May 2008, the authorities must disclose timely information to the public, such as the extent and location of polluted land. Also, the information must be in plain language, something made clear by the way the government handled the release of air pollution information related to PM2.5 fine particles.

The 18th congress called for a systematic approach to environmental management. It proposed ways to hold polluters accountable, and compensate those harmed by the pollution. The timely disclosure of information should become mandatory.

The government can take the first step by disclosing the data on soil pollution. As our new leader Xi Jinping said in the inauguration of his party chairmanship: "This is a national responsibility; responsibility for the people."

http://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1093159/beijing-should-release-data-polluted-soil

BEIJING (Caixin Online) — Adding an environmental standard to a law book takes at least three years in China, which helps explain why the State Council's decision to fast-track the nation's fledgling shale gas industry is making a lot of people nervous.

China has no rules to protect groundwater and other resources from the potentially harmful side-effects of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." A Ministry of Environmental Protection source said the agency would need three to five years to write one.

Nevertheless, a white paper on energy development released Oct. 24 by the State Council calls for ramping up the industry and pumping 6.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from underground shale formations by 2015.

Complementary policy documents released by several central government ministries suggest the nation's ultimate goal is a huge fracking industry that extracts up to 100 billion cubic meters a year by 2020.

The model for China's anticipated success is the U.S. shale gas sector, which according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration grew 14 times in its first decade and last year produced 170 billion cubic meters of gas.

Some Chinese companies have drilled test wells, although none so far has started a commercial operation. The potential is substantial, however, as geologists estimate the nation's recoverable reserves at about 25 trillion cubic meters, on par with the United States.

As development accelerates, said a source at the Geological Exploration Department under the Ministry of Land Resources (MLR), the government will likely introduce specific, shale gas drilling policies designed to protect the environment, particularly groundwater.

Some Chinese companies have drilled test wells, although none so far has started a commercial operation. The potential is substantial, however, as geologists estimate the nation's recoverable reserves at about 25 trillion cubic meters, on par with the United States.

However, according to an industry source, these anticipated policies are unlikely to be legally binding.

Indeed, there was no mention of pollution prevention or water protection or even environmental issues in general written into official documents prepared for MLR's second official auctioning of shale-gas exploration blocks Oct. 25.

The government is leasing exploration rights in predetermined areas to the highest bidders. Altogether, rights to gas in two blocks were awarded to Sinopec and Henan Coal Seam Gas Development and Utilization Co, in deals worth an estimated 800 million yuan. In addition, bidding for another 20 blocks was held in October. Results have yet to be announced. All of the shale gas blocks auctioned so far are in southern China, such as Sichuan Province and Chongqing, where supplies of the water fracking demands are plentiful.

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-11-21/industries/35255510_1_shale-gas-shale-gas-cubic-meters