Fracking costs outweigh benefits for Germany and Europe, study says

[Ichingcarpenter]

For only a ten year supply of energy, fracking in Europe would contaminate drinking water, cause severe environmental damage and create vast industrial landscapes, says a study on fracking,



The environmental impact of shale gas extraction in Germany and Europe are in no way proportionate to the raw materials gained using this method of drilling, a new study argues.

“We should not compare the conditions in Germany with those in the United States,” said Werner Zittel, the author of the study released by the NGO Energy Watch Group.

For one thing, Germany is much more densely populated, he said, increasing the risk for people and the environment near extraction sites.

To date, few scientifically sound analyses are available on the effects of fracking on people and the environment. But severe environmental damage can be observed in the United States, where fracking is already widespread.

Some scientific investigations have also found evidence that fracking has increased the danger of earthquakes in the United States. And the University of Innsbruck recently discovered that fracking pollutes the air with gases that are harmful to human health and the climate.

Not cost-effective

But the risks for man and nature are not the only important arguments against the controversial technique. Its cost-effectiveness is also questionable, said Green Party politician Hans-Josef Fell, president of the Energy Watch Group and author of the Renewable Energies Act from the year 2000.

more

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/fracking-costs-outweigh-benefits-germany-and-europe-study-says-313087


Fracking is a science therefore.........derp

[djean111]

1. Here in the United States, none of this matters in the least -

For only a ten year supply of energy, fracking in Europe would contaminate drinking water, cause severe environmental damage and create vast industrial landscapes, says a study on fracking

and I believe that "trade" agreements like the TPP/TTIP will just enable fracking corporations to sue and roll back environmental regulations or sue and force whatever entity that was rash enough to have environmental regulations to pay whatever profits they consider that they would have made.

No wonder all the secrecy and pressure to pass Fast Track. With Fast Track, not one sentence of this agreement can be changed.

[RiverLover]

2. I'm sick of the US being the stupid cousin. /nt

[quadrature]

3. Europe seems to be in permanent economic trouble.

they have a decision to make.

any natural gas produced,
displaces imported gas.

on top of that,
fracking means jobs that
otherwise would not exist.
Spain has 25% unemployment for adults,
50% for youths.