Underground Coal Gasification in the Loughor Estuary.

(Or, “Rape of the Fair Undersea” to misquote Alexander Cordell)

by Gareth Cornfield

Last night, 24th July, I, together with approximately 100 others, went to a meeting at Glenalla Hall, Llanelli, regarding the above process. It had been organised by the Green party together with the group ‘FRACK-OFF.ORG’.

My Journalistic interest had been piqued by reports in the local & national press, but I also had a personal interest. I live in this area and love the wildlife. I am a proponent of renewable energy and try to reduce my carbon footprint.

The process of Fracking, as it is known or more correctly, hydraulic fracturing, has interested me from an environmental & scientific viewpoint. The new one is Underground Coal Gasification. This is the same process that produced Town Gas. You know, the one before Natural Gas & North Sea Gas. We moved away from using this type of fuel because of the complexity of production compared to Natural or North Sea gases.

This process is considered to be a renewable one only if the gasification is of biomass. When the gasification is of coal, it releases as much carbon dioxide as just burning the coal.

It produces a gas that can be burned hotter than can be achieved from the original fuel. To produce coal gas, the coal is heated at temperatures above 700 ̊C, without combustion, to produce coke & gas. The process that was previously used needed to produce a ‘dirty’ gas because that gave a bright yellow flame, good for lighting purposes.

This was done in a very controlled environment where all aspects could be monitored and adjusted as necessary.

What is being proposed is very different.

They will drill down, then horizontally under the sea to get at a coal seam. They will then ignite the seam to start the process and then cap it to stop oxygen getting in. The coal seam will then gasify without combustion but still at extremely high temperatures.

The resulting gas will be drawn up, cleaned of impurities and piped into the national gas network.

Sounds good?

Well there are a few problems.

The main plant is a large industrial complex. When the seam is burned out, they will need to move on & build another. There are the associated pipelines as well.

The coal seam may need to be broken up with high pressure water that is then contaminated with methane, toluene etc. all of which are harmful in the extreme. This will of course be emptied into the sea. What isn’t will enter the ground and ultimately, the aquifer. It will then end up in our drinking water.

Fires in coal seams have never been considered a good idea as they are dangerous and unpredictable. Coal seams often link up together. Even the best geologists cannot guarantee that the coal seam you are in lies in isolation, therefore, even if you have capped off your end, the seam may link with another, oxygen gets in & you have a fire.

When you mine, you put in props to support the earth above the seam. This cannot be done with gasification. What happens when the coal is gasified and all that is supporting the earth above is low grade coke? Will the ground collapse in? If this is underground, will the sea bed collapse? No-one knows

This process has not been tried in the UK and has not been tried under the sea anywhere in the world!

Where have they chosen this global guinea pig to be?

The Loughor Estuary & Swansea Bay!

It beggars belief that areas protected by designations such as Site of Special Scientific Interest; Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Ramsar status, could even be considered for such activity. You are restricted in the extreme as to what house you can build on the Gower, what activities can be carried out in the area, but if you want to set fire to the coal that lies underneath, OK? I do not understand this at all.

If this is done and the seabed does collapse, what happens to the huge gaspipe that runs cross the estuary? If that ruptures and combines with coal burning at over 700 ̊C, the results would be devastating!

The vast majority of those in attendance were opposed to the scheme and shocked at the presentation that included film from Australia where similar schemes have devastated areas.

The Australian people have taken action and stopped the proliferation of these schemes. They got together and polled the local populations, thus were able to give a resounding ‘No’ before any move by businesses. This meant that the business moved away before any drilling or damage could be done.

Unfortunately, at least one has now turned its sights on the UK. An application for test drilling in the Loughor Estuary has been granted.

It has been said that a license would not be granted due to the environmental protection of the area. If that is true, then why are they testing? Business does not waste money in this way. They are testing because they think they may get a license to drill.

More meetings to oppose this are being planned. People are being urged to contact their Councillors, Assembly Members and MPs to register their views.

For more information, go to: www.frack-off.org.uk/ucg