In some coalbeds, naturally occurring water pressure holds methane-the main component of natural gas-fixed to coal surfaces and within the coal. In a coalbed methane (CBM) well, pumping water from the coalbeds lowers this pressure, facilitating the release of methane from the coal for extraction and use as an energy source. Water pumped from coalbeds during this process-CBM 'produced water'-is managed through some combination of treatment, disposal, storage, or use, subject to compliance with federal and state regulations. CBM produced water management can be challenging for regulatory agencies, CBM well operators, water treatment companies, policy makers, landowners, and the public because of differences in the quality and quantity of produced water; available infrastructure; costs to treat, store, and transport produced water; and states' legal consideration of water and produced water. Some states consider produced water as waste, whereas others consider it a beneficial byproduct of methane production. Thus, although current technologies allow CBM produced water to be treated to any desired water quality, the majority of CBM produced water is presently being disposed of at least cost rather than put to beneficial use. This book specifically examines the Powder River, San Juan, Raton, Piceance, and Uinta CBM basins in the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The conclusions and recommendations identify gaps in data and information, potential beneficial uses of CBM produced water and associated costs, and challenges in the existing regulatory framework.

In some coalbeds, naturally occurring water pressure holds methane-the main component of natural gas-fixed to coal surfaces and within the coal. In a coalbed methane (CBM) well, pumping water from the coalbeds lowers this pressure, facilitating the release of methane from the coal for extraction and use as an energy source. Water pumped from coalbeds during this process-CBM 'produced water'-is managed through some combination of treatment, disposal, storage, or use, subject to compliance with federal and state regulations. CBM produced water management can be challenging for regulatory agencies, CBM well operators, water treatment companies, policy makers, landowners, and the public because of differences in the quality and quantity of produced water; available infrastructure; costs to treat, store, and transport produced water; and states' legal consideration of water and produced water. Some states consider produced water as waste, whereas others consider it a beneficial byproduct of methane production. Thus, although current technologies allow CBM produced water to be treated to any desired water quality, the majority of CBM produced water is presently being disposed of at least cost rather than put to beneficial use. This book specifically examines the Powder River, San Juan, Raton, Piceance, and Uinta CBM basins in the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The conclusions and recommendations identify gaps in data and information, potential beneficial uses of CBM produced water and associated costs, and challenges in the existing regulatory framework.

Energy and water have been fundamental to powering the global economy and building modern society. This cross-disciplinary book provides an integrated assessment of the different scientific and policy tools around the energy-water nexus. It focuses on how water use, and wastewater and waste solids produced from fossil fuel energy production affect water quality and quantity. Summarizing cutting edge research, it describes the scientific methods for detecting contamination sources in the context of policy and regulations. The authors highlight the growing evidence that fossil fuel production, from both conventional and unconventional sources, leads to water quality degradation, while regulations for the water and energy sector remain fractured and highly variable across and within countries. This volume will be a key reference for scholars, industry professionals, environmental consultants and policy makers seeking information on the risks associated with the energy cycle and its impact on the environment, particularly water resources.

The aim of this book is to document for the first time the dimensions and requirements of effective integrated groundwater management (IGM). Groundwater management is a formidable challenge, one that remains one of humanity’s foremost priorities. It has become a largely non-renewable resource that is overexploited in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, the issue moves from how to simply obtain the water we need to how we manage it sustainably for future generations, future economies, and future ecosystems. The focus then becomes one of understanding the drivers and current state of the groundwater resource, and restoring equilibrium to at-risk aquifers. Many interrelated dimensions, however, come to bear when trying to manage groundwater effectively. An integrated approach to groundwater necessarily involves many factors beyond the aquifer itself, such as surface water, water use, water quality, and ecohydrology. Moreover, the science by itself can only define the fundamental bounds of what is possible; effective IGM must also engage the wider community of stakeholders to develop and support policy and other socioeconomic tools needed to realize effective IGM. In order to demonstrate IGM, this book covers theory and principles, embracing: 1) an overview of the dimensions and requirements of groundwater management from an international perspective; 2) the scale of groundwater issues internationally and its links with other sectors, principally energy and climate change; 3) groundwater governance with regard to principles, instruments and institutions available for IGM; 4) biophysical constraints and the capacity and role of hydroecological and hydrogeological science including water quality concerns; and 5) necessary tools including models, data infrastructures, decision support systems and the management of uncertainty. Examples of effective, and failed, IGM are given. Throughout, the importance of the socioeconomic context that connects all effective IGM is emphasized. Taken as a whole, this work relates the many facets of effective IGM, from the catchment to global perspective.

This book discusses how Coal Bed Methane (CBM) could help the acceleration of the energy transition in a ‘just’ way in Indonesia, due to the country's potential CBM reserves (and current dependence on climate damaging coal). Developing countries face multiple challenges in achieving their energy transitions. CBM in Indonesia could potentially be a catalyst for energy transition and subsequently improve access to energy. However, CBM faces numerous challenges and although Indonesia first developed its domestic CBM sector over more than a decade ago, they are still to implement this successfully. This book exposes the challenges and opportunities of CBM, exploring what lessons other countries could learn from Indonesia to improve the industry with a view to achieving energy transition and climate change targets. This book will be an invaluable reference for researchers and practitioners working in this field.

Under capitalism, economic growth is seen as the key to collective well-being. In Self-Devouring Growth Julie Livingston upends this notion, showing that while consumption-driven growth may seem to benefit a particular locale, it produces a number of unacknowledged, negative consequences that ripple throughout the wider world. Structuring the book as a parable in which the example of Botswana has lessons for the rest of the globe, Livingston shows how fundamental needs for water, food, and transportation become harnessed to what she calls self-devouring growth: an unchecked and unsustainable global pursuit of economic growth that threatens catastrophic environmental destruction. As Livingston notes, improved technology alone cannot stave off such destruction; what is required is a greater accounting of the web of relationships between humans, nonhuman beings, plants, and minerals that growth entails. Livingston contends that by failing to understand these relationships and the consequences of self-devouring growth, we may be unknowingly consuming our future.

Produced waterâ€"water from underground formations that is brought to the surface during oil and gas productionâ€"is the greatest volume byproduct associated with oil and gas production. It is managed by some combination of underground injection, treatment and subsequent use, treatment and discharge, or evaporation, subject to compliance with state and federal regulations. Management of these waters is challenging not only for industry and regulators, but also for landowners and the public because of differences in the quality and quantity of produced water, varying infrastructure needs, costs, and environmental considerations associated with produced water disposal, storage, and transport. Unconventional oil and gas development involves technologies that combine horizontal drilling with the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a controlled, high-pressure injection of fluid and proppant into a well to generate fractures in the rock formation containing the oil or gas. After the hydraulic fracture procedure is completed, the injected fluid is allowed to flow back into the well, leaving the proppant in the newly created fractures. As a result, a portion of the injected water returns to the surface and this water is called "flowback water" which initially may mix with the naturally occurring produced water from the formation. The chemistry and volume of water returning to the surface from unconventional oil and gas operations thus changes during the lifetime of the well due to the amount of fluid used in the initial stage of well development, the amount of water naturally occurring in the geologic formation, the original water and rock chemistry, the type of hydrocarbon being produced, and the way in which production is conducted. The volume and composition of flowback and produced waters vary with geography, time, and site-specific factors. A workshop was conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to highlight the challenges and opportunities associated in managing produced water from unconventional hydrocarbon development, and particularly in the area of potential beneficial uses for these waters. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Much progress has been made in assuring the quality of public water supplies since the SDWA was first enacted in 1974. However, an array of issues remain. Contents of this report: (1) Last Major Reauthor. and Amend.; Regulated Public Water Systems; (2) Issues: Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: Contaminant Candidate List; Regulatory Determinations; Unreg. Contaminant Monitoring; Standard-Setting; Recent and Pending Rules; Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water; Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs and Funding; Small Systems Issues: Exemptions; Small System Variances and Affordability; Small System Legislation; Underground Injection Control Program: Carbon Sequestration and Storage; Hydraulic Fracturing. Tables.

An energy industry insider delivers hard truths about the reality of fracking. Conventional wisdom has North America entering a new era of energy abundance thanks to shale gas. But has industry been honest? Cold, Hungry and in the Dark argues that declining productivity combined with increasing demand will trigger a crisis that will cause prices to skyrocket, damage the economy, and have a profound impact on the lives of nearly every North American. Relying on faulty science, bought-and-paid-for-white papers masquerading as independent research and “industry consultants,” the “shale promoters” have vastly overstated the viable supply of shale gas resources for their own financial gain. This startling exposé, written by an industry insider, suggests that the stakes involved in the Enron scandal might seem like lunch money in comparison to the bursting of the natural gas bubble. Exhaustively researched and rigorously documented, Cold, Hungry and in the Dark: · Puts supply-and-demand trends under a microscope · Provides overwhelming evidence of the absurdity of the one hundred-year supply myth · Suggests numerous ways to mitigate the upcoming natural gas price spike The mainstream media has told us that natural gas will be cheap and plentiful for decades, when nothing could be further from the truth. Forewarned is forearmed. Cold, Hungry and in the Dark is vital reading for anyone concerned about the inevitable economic impact of our uncertain energy future. “Powers’s step-by-step dismantling of the abundance myth ought to alarm policymakers, corporate managers, investors, business owners, and concerned citizens alike.”—Kurt Cobb, author of Prelude and contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

The nexus between water and energy raises a set of public policy questions that go far beyond water and energy. Economic vitality and management of scarce and precious resources are at stake. This book contributes to the body of knowledge and understanding regarding water, energy, and the links between the two in the American West and beyond. The research and analyses presented by the authors shed new light on the choices that must be made in order to avoid unnecessary harm in the development and management of water and energy systems to meet public needs in an ever changing environmental and economic climate. Indeed, the book shows, thoughtfully designed new technologies and approaches can help restore damaged environments and provide a range of benefits. The focus is the American West, but many of the lessons are global in their applicability. After a broad, stage-setting introductory section, the volume looks first at the use of water for energy production and then follows with chapters on the role of energy in water projects. The final section looks at the way forward, providing cases and recommendations for better, more efficient linkages in the water–energy nexus. Students and researchers in economics, public policy, environmental studies and law along with planners and policymakers will find this accessible and very current volume invaluable.