permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

With First Nationwide Fracking Law, Germany Approaches A Ban
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/02/3641790/german-fracking-law-close-to-ban/

On Wednesday, the German cabinet approved the country’s first nationwide
fracking law, which would set the “strictest conditions for fracking” 
according
to
<http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/germany-fracking-idINL6N0WY1QO20150401>
Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks.

The law, which now heads to parliament for debate, would ban fracking in
specified regions “to protect drinking water, health and the environment,”
according to the environment and energy ministries. The draft law would ban
the use of hydraulic fracturing for drilling processes that are shallower
than 3,000 meters, or almost 10,000 feet, and any fracking in nature
reserves or national parks.

“This law will enable us to circumscribe fracking so that it no longer
represents a danger to people or the environment. As long as the risks
cannot be fully evaluated, fracking will be banned,” Hendricks said.

The law, which would be in place for around four years, would allow
fracking in certain cases for scientific research as well as exceptional
commercial operations that pass a drilling test and get special approval
from a committee.

Natural gas in Germany is used mainly for heating, making it harder to
replace with renewable sources of energy. Right now Germany gets more than
a third of its gas supply from Russia. Last year only 12 percent of the
country’s demand
<http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/germany-fracking-idINL6N0WY1QO20150401>
was covered by its own supply.

Germany has had a moratorium on fracking since 2011, however there has been
consistent pressure from the energy industry to allow some level of the
controversial process, which relies on shooting a high-pressure mix of
water, sand, and chemicals into underground rock formations to help free up
gas.

“It’s a positive signal that extraction of shale gas in Germany is not
completely out of the question,” said
<http://www.dw.de/german-government-approves-controversial-fracking-bill/a-18354950>
Markus Kerber, general manager of the Federation of German Industries.
“However, the requirements for extracting the gas are completely
exaggerated.”

Germany’s neighbors have taken different approaches to addressing the
industry. France and Bulgaria have fracking moratoriums in place, while
Poland has eagerly pursued the process. Wales and Scotland also recently
imposed
<http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/05/3619612/wales-says-no-to-fracking/>
fracking moratoriums as the countries consider the environmental and health
hazards associated with the operations.

Public health concerns over the process include air and water contamination
as well as leaking methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas that
contributes significantly to climate change. A link between fracking and
minor earthquakes has also been observed
<http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/06/3608591/77-earthquakes-linked-to-fracking/>
in the United States. Increased truck traffic and noise pollution are also
concerns harbored by residents in near proximity to the extraction.

While the debate over the merits and pitfalls of fracking plays out
throughout Germany, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions fell for the
first time in three years in 2014. According to the environmental ministry,
the drop came both from the expansion of renewables and a relatively mild
winter. Renewable sources accounted for 27.8 percent of power consumption
in 2014, up from 6.2 percent in 2000, and carbon emissions dropped 4.3
percent year-over-year. This makes 2014 a big year for Germany’s renewable
energy transition, known as Energiewende, which requires the phasing out of
nuclear energy by 2022 and reducing GHGs at least 80 percent by 2050.

“The year ended with an unexpected Christmas present: Germany finally got
behind energy efficiency and ratcheted up the pressure on utilities to cut
emissions more dramatically, which translates into less coal-fired
production,” wrote
<http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2015/01/2014-pivotal-year-for-germanys-energiewende>
Paul Hockenos, a Berlin-based journalist. “The new program will slash
carbon emissions by between 62 million and 78 million tons by 2020. A
reduction of 25 to 30 million tons will come by way of energy efficiency.”