I read a bit about the whole process. Let me share what I learnt, then you can answer the above questions yourselves!.
HOW DOES CBM WORK :
Naturally formed Methane in the underground coal marcels will get released when they are de-pressurized. CBM companies drill deep wells into these coal beds and pumping out all the surrounding water, so that the coal seal gets de-pressurized and lets out the methane to flow as a gas up through the pipes. Methane is then compressed and commercialized into market. It is often also necessary to stimulate the coal seam via fracking (process of fracturing the solid ground layers with high pressure chemicals/liquids) in order to maximum extract of gas.
HOW DOES CBM WORK :
Naturally formed Methane in the underground coal marcels will get released when they are de-pressurized. CBM companies drill deep wells into these coal beds and pumping out all the surrounding water, so that the coal seal gets de-pressurized and lets out the methane to flow as a gas up through the pipes. Methane is then compressed and commercialized into market. It is often also necessary to stimulate the coal seam via fracking (process of fracturing the solid ground layers with high pressure chemicals/liquids) in order to maximum extract of gas.
SO WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS:
Ground Water depletion
Continuously removaing water from coal beds depletes ground water and may eventually lower farmer’s boreholes and underground waterlevel. It can also change the flow of good fresh groundwater to into the coal seams.
Waste Water Disposal
Millions of litres of produced water have to be disposed of from each well. Over time this represents a massive volume of water and toxic material released into rivers, estuaries and the sea.
Leaking Wells & Drinking water contamination
The steel and concrete pipes plunged deep into the ground will decay slowly over time. All gas wells will leak eventually. The possibility of the water used in fracking to contaminate water in rivers and other bodies of water is pretty high.
Air & Noise Pollution & Infrastructure damage
Road damage is an inevitable consequence of methane exploration due to intensive transportation of materials and machinery.
Global Warming & Earth Quakes
CBM is not green, it is not the replacement for traditional fossil fuels, it’s just another energy extraction technique, thus we ‘re only keep expanding the hydrocarbon and emissions. We’re already witnessing the bad effects interms of global warming and frequent earth quakes.
WHAT IS MY VIEW:
I do support technology and development; but this one is not required for our country - where there's already a huge water scarcity; poor infrastructure, corrupted environment/safety regulatory bodies, and greedy business men backed by fraud politicians. Why should we risk the livelihood of our future generations for the profits of certain corporates ?
In the end, I just can’t imagine the beautiful green surrounding of Cauvery delta region turning into a dark coal dump; pure breeze of air to go polluted with chemicals and dangerous gases; chirping sounds of sparrows to change into blasting bore well bombs and restless truck noises; and finally the poor people of these region will loose all they have got and become the refugee of their own land😢 #SaveNeduvasal #banhydrocarbonproject #savefarmer #saveagriculture
15 Comments to "Should we protest the Methane (CBM) project "
What are legal actions possible against these plans ? Is protesting the only way ?
Dear friends please prevent exploitation of neduvasal. If you are convinced with the facts, please support our efforts through the online petition : https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-save-neduvasal-c212ce5e-fdf7-4b7f-a2bd-0554b0bc57f1?recruiter=328674525&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_page&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-custom_msg
We should put pressure on State Government to put a Mid-term Stay for this project, which is well within its power, like JJ did for Methane Gas project. Jallikattu like protest is necessary to put pressure on government!!!
Good thought my dear friend. But, this issue is more than what you think. There has been a "theory" that the central government was choking Cauvery water to TN to make the lands go dry and make farmers let go of their farmlands for the methane coal-bed methane project. Take a look at the link in my profile..
Free-biens of TN people want everything for free and doesn''t want project to come. Give some royalty on the earnings of the project to the individual farmers or the owners of the land , they would have gladly accepted the project.
India's crude oil demand is close to 6 million barrels per day. Developing 31 fields to produce 15000 barrels per day is like a drop in the ocean at a huge cost of agricultural produce and on top of that the environmental risks involved. World crude oil prices are at the lowest now with no signs of any significant increase in next five to six years. There is no logic, financial or otherwise in developing these fields at the cost of agriculture, risks involved and disregarding public concerns. It would make more sense financially to increase productivity of the land that is to be covered under project footprint and use the returns to import 15000 barrels of crude.
@Debashish Manna:Well said. Although I get tired of Tamil Nadu histrionics of just being Tamil and protesting for everything, this time they have a point. Why disturb people who are happy living there and producing something that's not going to create a big magic. I think the TN govt already earns more revenue (50Cr per day) from their TASMAC shops than the projected revenue of these plants (40Cr per year).. funny Isn't it ?
Legal actions like PIL, RTI, online petitions all have no effect, don't get noticed or recognized by the decision makers, so why these people get into mass protests.
that's scary what you say. I don't want o believe in the "theory" what you say, at current situation it's quite logical and could be a fact though :(
the comparison of TASMAC vs Hydrocarbon is funny, but something everyone needs to think about.
Completely agree Debashish Mann. You nailed it !
Thank you all for visiting the blog and making some constructive discussion. I am glad that this piece of article made you think on this topic, that's the objective, happy about it
From your other posts, i thought you're a sensible person, but this one makes me to think otherwise. Large scale protests are just a fancy thing in Tamilnadu, the state does not want development, does not want to be part of India.. What's wrong with them ? All these protests are fueled mainly by activists and sundry NGOs. Read the article, how many development projects are hurdled by these people.
https://swarajyamag.com/politics/large-scale-protests-are-the-new-thing-in-tamil-nadu
Neither me or this article is against the development of a state/country; everyone wants development, but not at the cost of killing the agriculture, environment and the livelihood of lakhs of people in the surroundings. Only Sustainable developments can survive, rest not!
When you can find an article (that you shared) is against the protests, I hope you'd have read a 100 other articles describing the bad impacts of these Methane plants too. Anyway I am glad that you've read my other articles as well :)
I don’t know how should I give you thanks! I am totally stunned by your article. You saved my time. Thanks a million for sharing this article.
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