What is the real use of shale gas boom for Germany?
 

It seems to me that current shale gas boom, initiated by our US partners in Europe, and especially here, in Germany, is rather risky thing! And not only because of deliberate pushing their fracking technology for extracting shale gas in our North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony may easily cause earthquakes and contaminate water supplies.
The matter is that Germany has not own shale gas production techniques yet. And it means that we will simply have to apply exclusively US technically advanced technologies here, which surely leads to US total control over our shale gas resources, turning the USA into the top energy producer in the world! While we are falling into a position of energy dependence... well, not from Russians, but from Americans! But is it any sense in trying to bargain one trouble for another, eh?

would you rather be at the clutches of Russians or Americans - better to deal with the devil you know - Amerika!

earthquakes in Germany? well that is one of frackers bashers favorite ploys - there are earthquakes every day in Europe and nobody knows it.

That said I oppose fracking because of the destruction of the environment - no way can this prevent groundwater pollution, etc. But earthquakes - yeh but you may not even feel it. Don't get too taken away by propaganda.

There are earthquakes regulalry in Groningen as a result of gas extration. SOme homes are now uninhabitable, many are unsellable as a result.

I am opposed to fracking on many levels. The world does not need more, cheap hydro-carbons at this point, at least not if the intention is for the world to still be habitable in 50 years time. Also it does result in groundwater pollution, and a destruction of the landscape, no matter what the proponents say.

However, this is a travel forum so I am not sure this is the place to be discussing such matters.

I'd look at the sulphuric acid that was pumped into Northern Czech to get the Uranium out before you start pumping anything else into the ground.

I'd stick with American technology but hang back until the main issues are sorted out. There is more to be gained by developing an EU smart grid than fracking.

"The matter is that Germany has not own shale gas production techniques yet."

You're presumably telling the Chinese not buy decent cars till they've developed their own equivalent of Mercedes. And, no doubt, you'd have stood against automated spinning and weaving - and those filthy foreign railways the British had invented - until you'd developed your own machinery.

I'm amazed you're patronising this internet, though. And posting in English

Fortunately - for you, though not for us - your ancestors weren't stupid. They realised we all progress - and Germany more than any other society on earth, except Japan - by using other people's ideas, then improving on them.

There may or may not be valid environmental argument against fracking, and any such arguments probably (though not certainbly) apply more strongly in densely populated countries like Germany, the UK and Italy than in the wide open spaces of North America.

But delaying accepting fracking has a real cost, since we don't yet have an adequate "sustainable" alternative - and Germany's banning nuclear makes Germany's problem worse. And that cost translates into old people getting hyperthermia and poor people having to spend more on transport to get to work or school.

Imposing that cost on the least privileged because of misguided nationalism isn't just dunderheaded: it's downright cruel.

There may or may not be valid environmental argument against fracking, and any such arguments probably (though not certainly) apply more strongly in densely populated countries like Germany, the UK and Italy than in the wide open spaces of North America.>

Well here in northern Michigan is it sparsely populated but fracking has gone wild and with lots of environmental damage - water tables, etc.

it is not just people that get hurt by reckless fracking but the environment as well - I am not totally opposed to fracking but think the rules are way too loose now - because of the great lobby of the burgeoning natural gas industry.

Hey the US of A will be a net exporter of oil and gas soon - if we could conseve wow! We still use about half of the world's non-renewable energy supplies!