Natural gas provides an ideal complement to renewable energy sources -- not a replacement, argues Mónica V. Cristina of Shale Gas Europe.

As one of the most hotly debated energy sources in Europe, shale gas has created big expectations but also raised numerous questions specifically around its potential impact on the environment.

The most common claims of environmental harm leveled against shale gas, and the technique used to extract it, hydraulic fracturing, are well known. They include: contamination of drinking water with chemicals and methane, a worse greenhouse gas profile than hard coal and the utilisation of "hundreds of hazardous chemicals" that gas companies "keep secret." Environmental groups also fear that investments in shale gas infrastructure will undercut the economics of renewables. 

Hydraulic fracturing

First, hydraulic fracturing has been used in Europe for decades to stimulate conventional oil and gas wells, water wells and geothermal wells. In Germany alone, more than 300 wells have been stimulated using this technique. Furthermore, when looking at the facts and scientific evidence Shale Gas Europe concludes that none of the claims above stand up to close scrutiny.

First, the concerns around water pollution. Several measures can be put in place to ensure water protection and these are employed by industry. The proper casing of the shale gas well is in this sense critical for the safety of operations and well construction techniques employ multiple barrier layers of steel and cement to isolate the well from groundwater. In addition, fracturing occurs two to three kilometers below drinking water supplies and are separated from the aquifers by multiple layers of impermeable rock. This point has been made in the peer-reviewed academic paper by Professor Richard Davies, director of the Durham Energy Institute, "Hydraulic fractures: How far can they go?", which highlighted that the height of fractures does not exceed 588 meters.

Second, the issue of chemical additives. In Europe, all the additives that will be used in fracturing solutions (representing only 0.5 per cent of the fluids) will have to fully comply with European and national regulations. Contrary to popular belief, the industry supports full disclosure to appropriate regulatory authorities of the chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing.  

In the US, for example, companies provide information on chemical additives using FracFocus, a project of the U.S. Ground Water Protection Council and U.S. Department of Energy. The general public are able to access specific information via a search, on a well-by-well basis, of the specific compounds used in hydraulic fracturing operations. 

Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas development are also a controversial issue. However, the European Commission report Climate Impact of Potential Shale Gas Production in the European Union of July 2012, clearly indicates: "The relative comparison with coal is clearer cut. In our analysis, emissions from shale gas generation are significantly lower (41 per cent to 49 per cent) than emissions from electricity generated from coal." Other recent studies published by top research centres have reached similar conclusions.

Finally, natural gas provides an ideal complement to renewable energy sources as it can be quickly adjusted to changing demand as well as to the variable nature of energy production from renewables. More importantly, evidence from the United States shows that renewable energy has thrived during the natural gas production boom in the US and it is projected to continue well into the future. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the US wind industry, for example, installed 40% more capacity (wind plants) during the first three quarters of 2012 than the first three quarters of 2011. Fears that shale gas will stall renewable energy development are therefore unfounded. 

Risks can be managed

No technology is without risk. However, risk can be managed. As the Royal Society pointed out in its report Shale Gas in the UK: A Review of Hydraulic Fracturing, it is possible to develop shale gas safely through a combination of sound regulation and modern technology. 

The European Parliament endorsed this argument too when it decided to reject an EU wide moratorium on shale gas development last November. Through a report on the environmental impacts of shale gas it emphasised that any risks "should be contained through pre-emptive measures including proper planning, testing, use of new and best available technologies, best industry practices" alongside monitoring and robust regulation -- something the industry endorses. 

In this respect, it is necessary to understand and concede that there are clear differences between Europe and America. When it comes to environmental regulation, it is worth keeping in mind that Europe's environmental legislation is in many respects the most advanced in the world. As Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Change, stated via twitter: "Europe is not North Dakota." Indeed, neither the scale nor the type of development will be similar on this side of the Atlantic. The opportunity for Europe to develop shale gas in a sustainable way, right from the beginning, is within reach. 

Neither should we forget that we are still in an exploration phase, meaning that we are assessing if Europe has the resources and whether they can be sustainably developed. This phase will take years, but it is essential to shed light on Europe's potential to develop its own domestic natural gas resources. Professor Richard Davies, put this into perspective in an article published recently in the New Statesman: "We have drilled one shale gas well (in the UK). That's an 8 1/2 inch borehole in Lancashire, a little like pushing a pin through the ceiling of your living room and looking through the hole."

Grab the opportunity

The facts show that shale gas can be developed safely and play a key role in the transition to a greener energy future. Increased efficiency and a shift to gas from coal in the power sector have made the United States a leader in cutting energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. "This is a success story based on a combination of policy and technology - policy driving greater efficiency and technology making shale gas production viable," IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told the Financial Times in May 2012. As a bonus, the shale gas boom has led to an unprecedent manufacturing revival fueled by cheap and abundant gas. 

In the meantime, Europe is falling behind in reducing carbon emissions and reversing the fortunes of the chemical, plastics, aluminium, iron and steel, rubber, coated metals, and glass industries operating in the old continent. The time has come to put aside myths and have an honest and constructive debate on how to sustainably develop shale gas for the sake of Europe's energy future. 

Mónica V. Cristina is an advisor to Shale Gas Europe. Watch investigative reports on the impacts of fracking around the world by Link TV's Earth Focus, and learn more about this issue at LinkTV.org/Fracking.

(Euronews: 0726 PT, May 11, 2011) Greece is once again in the grip of a general strike as people protest against the governments raft of harsh austerity measures aimed to keep the debt-ridden the country solvent. Athens is currently planning further measures to save an extra 23 billion euros by 2015, but ordinary Greeks are outraged.

Violence Erupts During Potests in Athens

(ITN News: 0431 PT, May 11, 2011) Police in Athens have arrested ten people during a violent march against economic austerity measures.

(Euronews: 0421 PT, May 11, 2011) Anti-Gaddafi fighters in Misurata are engaged in trench warfare against Libyan government forces. Euronews has exclusive pictures from the fluid frontline as the rebel army make slight gains against a better-trained and well-equipped foe.

Government forces are deploying snipers to keep the rebels pinned down and then hit their positions with shells and mortars. Those opposed to Gaddafi say they are expecting NATO air strikes to target government troops at any time.

EU to Open Office in Rebel Stronghold Benghazi

(Euronews: 0726 PT, May 11, 2011) The European Union says it will open an office in the rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi. However, this is not a sign of recognition for the rebel administration. The aim is to help with security and getting aid to where it is needed. The office will also assist with health and education.

(Press TV: 0833 PST, April 20, 2011) The leader of one of the main opposition parties in Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, is still on a thirst and hunger strike that began during a protest on Saturday April 16. He is calling for an extraordinary election, while President Boris Tadic hopes to delay any vote while Serbia applies for European Union membership.

(Euronews: 0800 PST, March 24, 2011) Europe's leaders are meeting today to sign off on a plan to defend the euro after months of financial turbulence, but Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned after parliament rejected his minority government's plan to avoid a bailout. Socrates' resignation causes a new dilemma for the EU and IMF if Portugal does decide to seek an financial bailout.

Millions of Egyptians came out to Tahrir Square today for the "Day of Departure," according to Al Jazeera's Arabic channel. Demonstrators said all Egyptians were participating and that they would not leave until their demands were met.

BBC Arabic reported that both pro and anti-Mubarak protesters turned out in Alexandria. They also said that the Egyptian Attorney General banned several officials from leaving the country as a precautionary measure against them.

One of the banned ministers, former Minister of Commerce and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, called into Nile TV, Egyptian state television. Rachid said he was in Dubai with the permission of authorities and did not know why he had been banned from traveling.

Al Alam, the Arabic language channel from Iran, reported that an European Union summit issued a statement today condemning the attacks on Egyptian demonstrators and calling for an immediate peaceful transition of power. They also said three demonstrations supporting the pro-democracy protesters took place in Brussels today.

Iran's English language channel, Press TV, showed demonstrations around the world in support of the anti-Mubarak protesters, including in Malaysia where protesters clashed with police.

Lebanon's New TV featured the newly appointed Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman. The soft-spoken Suleiman rose through the armed forces and military intelligence to become head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service.

As protests continue in Egypt, Dubai TV reports on how the unrest is affecting the Gaza Strip. Egypt is the main source of supplies for the people of Gaza. Transportation tunnels at the Rafah border crossing have been cut off since the protests erupted, leading to fears of a food shortage.

The US treasury has recently expanded its blacklist on Iran to include another state-controlled bank, a shipping line, and more of its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The latest move is the first step by the US in implementing new restrictions adopted by the UN Security Council last week. The Treasury also took a separate step to squeeze Iran's energy sector by identifying some 20 petroleum and petrochemical companies as being under Iranian government control--an action that puts them off limits to U.S. businesses under a general trade embargo.

On Wednesday, Iran announced that it will build four new reactors to expand its atomic research. It denies Western allegations that it is seeking atomic weapons, insisting that it only wants to develop the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In a televised speech, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed to force the West to "sit at the negotiating table like a polite child" before agreeing to further talks, adding that Iran will not make "one iota of concessions."

The Obama administration says the goal of the punitive measures is to deter Tehran from its nuclear-enrichment program. Will these sanctions further that goal? Not really.

Lest we forget, the sanctions that were passed at the UN have been watered down during negotiations with Russia and China rendering them practically ineffective. The additional sanctions by the US and the ones planned by the EU have no crippling effect on Iran's economy and do not entail an oil embargo. Sanctions can be effective only if they threaten the regime's survival, and since these sanctions are all based on Iran's nuclear energy program and not human rights, they remain ineffective. The vast majority of Iranians support their government's nuclear-enrichment policies.

Additional sanctions will most likely come at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable, as they did in Iraq from August 1991 through March 1998.

"[The sanctions] will most probably lead to the suffering of the people of Iran and will play into the hands of people on all sides who do not want dialogue to prevail," according to the Brazilian ambassador to the UN, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti. Brazil, along with Turkey, voted against the draft resolution of the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions against Iran.

Furthermore, the sanctions would allow Tehran to blame outsiders for its economic woes. In fact, the sanctions will do Iran a favor that the Iranian government can't do for itself.

As for making a dent in Iran's import- export traffic of energy products, the sanctions will have little effect. Turkey has indicated that it plans to increase its imports of natural gas from Iran. Also, according to The Wall Street Journal, oil traders and oil industry analysts say Iran will have little trouble finding other gasoline supplies in the Persian Gulf, where a black market in fuel products thrives, even if Washington passes measures that would penalize firms or individuals with business in the U.S. that supply gasoline to Iran.

Capt. Mousa Murad, general manager of the United Arab Emirates' Port of Fujairah, says gasoline sanctions will likely give a lift to a thriving black-market fuel trade in the Gulf. The region has no shortage of suppliers, he says, who will continue to hide gasoline shipments to Iran because "prices will go up two times, three times."

What options does the US have?

Those who are anxious to stop Iran's nuclear program keep reminding us that the "military option is still on the table." For years, the US has tried to stop India and Pakistan from joining the nuclear club and briefly turned off aid to them. Today, it works secretly with Pakistan to secure its arsenal and has signed a treaty with India permitting it to buy nuclear material. The Unites States option might be no option.

Article originally published on the Huffington Post
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First came the clash at Davos in January 2009, when Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum. Then came the surprise uranium deal with Tehran, undermining Western pressure on Iran to come clean about its nuclear program, followed by the Israeli assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which sailed under Turkish flags, sending shockwaves throughout the world. Most recently, Turkey and Brazil have become the only countries that voted against UN sanctions to impede Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons capabilities.

There was a time when Turkey had looked west and never looked back. Some say that the drift began in 2002, when the Justice and Development Party (AKP), rooted in the country's Islamist movement, came to power. But others, like the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, lay the blame for Turkey's increasing independence squarely on European states opposed to Turkey's EU accession process, which has ground to an almost complete halt since it kicked off in 2005.

"I personally think that if there is anything to the notion that Turkey is, if you will, moving eastward, it is, in my view, in no small part because it was pushed, and pushed by some in Europe refusing to give Turkey the kind of organic link to the West that Turkey sought," he said.

This assessment has merits; the reality is that some EU member states - notably France, Germany and Austria - have become openly hostile to Turkish membership in recent years. France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, have stated that they would prefer Turkey to be granted what they call a 'privileged partnership' with the EU, instead of full membership. This came as a shock and an insult to the Turkish government and people, who had witnessed Eastern European countries, once hostile to the West ascend to the EU.

But why shouldn't Turkey look east?

Trade between Turkey and all 22 members of the Arab League has more than doubled over the past five years to just under $30 billion a year, still a fraction of its trade with the EU. However, since the recent global economic downturn, coupled with the collapse of the Euro, Turkish economists have been urging the government to expand its trade with the Middle East and the Far East.

Turkey recently signed a deal with Arab neighbors Syria, Jordan and Lebanon to establish a cooperation council to create a zone of free movement of goods and people. Although the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the deal should not be seen as an alternative to the European Union, he invited all other interested countries to join.

In addition, with Turkey having no energy resources of its own, Iran is its second biggest source of energy imports after Russia, supplying roughly one-third of Turkey's total natural gas consumption last year, 10 billion cubic meters.

The West's loss of Turkey has frightening strategic consequences, as was evident in Turkey's stance on Iran. Its stance against Israel has also embarrassed U.S.-allied Arab states such as Egypt, which have shied away from confronting Israel despite popular demands to do so. Since his Justice and Development party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Erdogan has been accused by his detractors that he is trying to reclaim the former "grandeur" of Turkey's Ottoman Empire era. Did he succeed?

Perhaps not, but in Egypt, a reader of al-Masry al-Youm newspaper dubbed Erdogan as the "Caliph of the Muslims" in comments posted on its website, and his namesake is now popular with newborns in Gaza.

Article originally published on the Huffington Post
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With the close of week one of climate negotiations in Copenhagen, parties are beginning to come forth with proposals of what their countries are prepared to do...or not do, depending on who you ask. Japan's targets, for example, while ambitious, come with conditions. The Japanese Prime Minster has declared he would not sign an agreement extending the Kyoto Protocol that did not hold big emitters like the U.S. and China accountable. The EU, on the other hand, made what some call a bold leadership move by pledging 7.2 billion euros over the next three years in international adaptation funding. Developing countries, however, claim it's simply not enough.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, which was partly awarded to him based on his work on climate change. In his acceptance speech, Obama identified climate change as an international security issue due to the threats of forced migration and further instability within already volatile areas that face diminishing natural resources, famine, and disease.

To wrap up the week, a "draft final text" was released, raising questions about nuclear power funding, global temperature targets, and plans for long term adaptation support. This was followed by yet another draft which appeared as a rebuttal to the controversial Danish Text leaked earlier in the week. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out next week!

In the meantime, keep following LIVE coverage of the events on Copenhagen 24/7 and check out this video on the effects of climate change on "Dead Zones" in American waterways. These are very real places!