a detailed report on the Airth proposal...by...

a detailed report on the Airth proposal...
by http://davidsmythe.org/professional/brief-cv.htm

The most advanced CBM development in the UK is at Airth in Stirlingshire, where Dart Energy has applied for planning permission to drill up to 14 boreholes. It intends to extract the methane by the simple process of dewatering the coal, that is, pumping out the water. In doing so, the methane, which is adsorbed onto the coal surfaces, is released and collected.

Dart Energy does not intend to hydraulically fracture, or frack, the coalbeds to increase production, although its predecessor company at the same site, Coalbed Methane Ltd, did so in early tests.

David Smythe has written a review of Dart Energy's current proposals at Airth (as at summer 2013). The company does not seem to understand the geology sufficiently well. The area to be developed abounds in geological faults, and the rocks overlying the coal seams do not provide a sufficiently impermeable lid to prevent methane and fluids escaping up to the groundwater. In short, the environmental risks are great.

http://davidsmythe.org/fracking/Smythe%20comments%20on%20Dart%20Energy%20planning%20application%20V1.1.pdf