minister slams eco warrior extremists - again, page-47

TR,

Apologies for the delay in replying, I only just saw your question to me.

Your post is extremely disingenuous and misleading to other posters.

I thought methane was methane?

Methane IS methane, but methane is non-toxic. Nobody is suggesting, even the GasLand doco, that methane is responsible for the alleged health issues. They are saying it's due to frac fluid (which is also largely nonsense but that's a discussion for another time).

If methane was responsible, farms would be killing people left right and centre because Australia's cows emit more methane than CSG ever has.

Furthermore, CSG is almost PURE methane. It does not contain heavier hydrobarbons or liquids (including aromatics which can be dangerous in very high doses) like shale gas does.

I assume that while the methane is the same, other gases, radioactivity etc would vary, just as they do from region to region in the US.

Methane is not radioactive is any meaningful sense of the word. Your average banana is more radioactive than methane. Your average granite kitchen benchtop releases more toxic gases than does natural gas.

Like I said, CSG is more than 99% pure methane and its other constituents are mainly CO2 and traces of ethane. There is nothing toxic or radioactive in Queensland CSG.

Has any research been conducted in Australia? or are you (or indeed anyone else here) aware of any current or proposed research?

Of course. Quite apart from universities like UQ which have CSG research centres, the companies themselves are (belatedly) conducting this research because they're fed up with the pseudo-scientific tripe like you wrote above being peddled by anti-CSG groups with an agenda. They are doing the research so that the people who matter - the government - can tell the difference between proper scientific research, and people who get hysterical over "radioactive methane."

It would be of great value to your cause to have emissions which were NOT swimming in traces of numerous nasties, and/or radioactive!

In summary, there are no nasties in Coal Seam Gas. It is effectively pure methane, much purer than either shale gas or conventional gas.

Incidentally, do you know the reason CSG is pure methane? It's because little communities of microscopic bugs live in the coal and convert the nasties in the coal (and the heavier hydrocarbons like ethane and propane) into methane. These bugs are called methanogenic archaea (methanogenic obviously meaning methane-generating). So CSG is the most natural production process for gas in the world. It's 100% Organic!

I believe you were saying I have a dodgy grasp on chemistry? Hopefully I've settled your concerns over that.