Something MAJOR is happening: Vast amounts of methane leaking from Australia's biggest coal seam

Methane leaking from coal seam gas field, testing shows

Vast amounts of methane appear to be leaking undetected from Australia's biggest coal seam gas field, according to world-first research that undercuts claims by the gas industry.

Testing inside the Tara gas field, near Condamine on Queensland's Western Downs, found some greenhouse gas levels over three times higher than nearby districts, according to the study by researchers at Southern Cross University.

Methane, carbon dioxide and other gases appear to be leaking up through the soil and bubbling up through rivers at an astonishing rate, the researchers said.

"The concentrations here are higher than any measured in gas fields anywhere else that I can think of, including in Russia," said Damien Maher, a biochemist who helped conduct the tests. "The extent of these enriched concentrations is significant."

...

The researchers drove back and forth on public roads through the gas fields at Tara, taking measurements every second via a cavity ring down spectrometer - the only instrument of its type in Australia. It enabled them to take thousands of real-time readings of several gases in the air, and accurately pinpoint them with a global positioning system.

"Everything we're finding shows that something major is happening and we need to look deeper into the problem," said Isaac Santos, a senior lecturer in biochemistry at Southern Cross University, who worked on the study with Dr Maher.

"I think what it shows is we have to go through all gas fields, and potential gas fields, and take measurements, so we have baseline data to work from."

Inside the gas field, methane was measured at up to 6.89 parts per million, compared to an average background level outside the gas field of about two parts per million.

Obviously, this is both a disturbing and controversial finding...

It will be interesting to see if this analysis holds up.

Of course, if true, it appears we have additional evidence of a real problem on our hands.

Am I the only one that feels like something big is happening to our planet that has yet to be fully identified?

Time will tell...

reply to post by loam

Great thread in my younger days worked in mines including coal.
Dont believe a word they say about fracking not harming the environment espescially our water supplies.
There are govt people and private individuals making huge bucks allowing fracking to happen so the Chinese appetite for gas can be sated.
Stuff Aussies stuff the environment ..they do not care one lump of coal for anything but MONEY.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if fracking causes many small methane leaks with a large cumulative effect. I wonder just how much methane we will release into the atmosphere as a result of fracking as time goes on. That stuff is potent as a greenhouse gas and has a half life in the atmosphere of I think 7 years or so.

This video makes reference to large amounts of methane being ejected into the atmosphere. This is just a whisper of what is to come. Some of what this Mayan has to say, seems wonky to me but we are going to cross the galactic plain and this is the end of one 226 million year trip of our solar system, around the centre of our galaxy and it is the end of the KaliYuga and the Sun is becoming more active. Prepare. A good start is getting at least 250 miles from the ocean, like soon.

www.youtube.com...

I used to work in the mines, 30 years until poor health stopped me.
It was in the deep coal mines in the UK, and there were pockets of methane gas (Fire dampth), and it could be responsible for explosions but not with aeration. It was never in sufficient quantities to amount to much all though it was in the early coal mines without adequate ventilation, and was responsible for some horrific explosions.
Methane gas is escaping the world over from the sea, Coal slag heaps, the land, and several millions cows, wilder beast, and billions of humans farting, and every other mammal.
I hope you can understand what i'm saying because i have had a stroke.

reply to post by loam


"vast amounts of methane gas... leaking undetected"...

...says the news article.

*facepalm*

reply to post by rollsthepaul

going to cross the galactic plain and this is the end of one 226 million year trip of our solar system, around the centre of our galaxy and it is the end of the KaliYuga and the Sun is becoming more active.

Well we do that twice a year so nothing new there and the Sun is getting quieter and NOT more active. Look up Landscheidt and discover what a Maunder Minimum is.

Methane has always leaked into the atmosphere. This is nothing new. It is only news because they think it will contribute to global climate change warming disaster and this is now something scary and creates money and power and makes papers sell and TV programs and keeps the financial world turning. If you can tell me in 2040 that we are still getting a warmer world because of CO2 or Methane then I may possibly believe you. It will depend on the state of the Sun however.

As far as the coal seam goes, my concern would be explosion but as out mining friend says, not when in the atmosphere.

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by rollsthepaul

 

going to cross the galactic plain and this is the end of one 226 million year trip of our solar system, around the centre of our galaxy and it is the end of the KaliYuga and the Sun is becoming more active.

"Well we do that twice a year so nothing new there..."

Woah... I don't think the solar system crosses the galactic plane 2X per year... Would be 2X per transit around the galaxy, no?

That is disturbing about the methane releasing! It seems like a situation that would be difficult to put a lid on.

Earth is starting to go through a "growth/expanding" phase, hence all the earthquakes/volcanism and methane leaks.....'


just my theory.

Perhaps the world is just farting?

What the heck do they expect when they set out to do this kind of stuff?! Its obvious this sort of crap is not going to help the environment at all, and in fact, cause more problems, but its all money money money. Very glad I moved away from there back down to Brisbane last month! While Looking for new jobs up there for the Mr, ALL the jobs advertised in our area were for CSG. Its gorgeous country out there, but not for long I guess - remember not long ago there was methane bubbling up in the rivers near there, people said it wasn't normal, the higher ups said it was natural and not related to the 4,200 frack pads in QLD alone. Hmmm

S&F loam, your threads are always great.

here's a link about the river and a video
Bubbling to the surface: CSG impacts on the Condamine

Has anyone heard of the clathrate gun hypothesis?

There is a huge amount of gas bubbling up in Bayou Corne Louisanna. I know it is a different situation with the salt dome collapsing and the sink hole problem. I also found an article on massive foam on the beaches caused by methane bubbling up in the ocean. It seems that a big solar flare could ignite the whole planet.
Im new to blogging so i havent learned to upload a link. But, Dutchsince has been covering the La Gas/sinkhole problem.

reply to post by jpalk


No ive not heard that. Could you explain a bit?

Just think of fracking for gas as being like punching a hole in a fishbowl, for water, with an air compressor nozzle.

Sure, they get their hands on some gas, just like their hands get wet after cracking the fishbowl.

I thought this was obvious, so what's the problem? They found gas, so we can work. Then we can afford bottled water...

Originally posted by MysterX
Perhaps the world is just farting?

Yes, because it has parasites. (Humans)

Very cool, you know I woke up today and I thought to myself..."You know there just isn't enough methane in the atmosphere" So is this good or bad news. Or is this one of those sort of questions somebody will pose a few years from now as it does not yet matter all that much. None of those were questions as they did not have a ?

It's all about the Cha-Ching, consider the point that the oil industry paid big bucks to stop the research of hydrogen based cars. More money for them to sit on their fat a** and smoke a cigar, than to actually care for the earth.

reply to post by Awen24


I lolled

Ahh yes,,
just as my friend Charlie Frost said it would be..
Methane, an ACTIVE solar Maximum, the 6mag quakes just picked up in the last
month, crazy weather every where on the planet. strange booms heard all over the world.
melting ice caps, glaciers, and Greenland Ice sheet..in record amounts. Ect.ect.ect
the unusualls just keep adding on
Yep.. nothing to see here folks.. its all normal