fracking
The upcoming Queensland election could be decided by the polarising issue of coal seam gas extraction, so how can the government get the public on side?
Hydraulic fracturing has solved one problem (peak fuel) but sharpened another (climate change). Policymakers can no longer rely on increasing scarcity to restrain demand and CO2 emissions.
With calls for more regulation to an outright ban on drilling, Australia's coal-seam gas industry faces project delays, higher costs and blockades. Worse, Alan Jones has weighed in to the debate.
Until we do our homework and gather good scientific information to inform the debate on coal-seam gas mining, the known unknowns about its future impacts will continue to cause conflict.
As China follows suit with the US and begins development of its own huge shale gas reserves, the need for environmental safeguards becomes all the more urgent.
With the fracking of one CSG well requiring up to five million litres of water, Australia's water authority has called for a closer look at mining's use of this precious resource.
Shale gas could usher in an extended period of cheap natural gas but with the environmental risks now out in the open, caution is needed.