The Australian: Shale gas mining causes 'less damage' than CSG

AN international geology expert claims the mining of shale gas causes less damage to the environment than extracting coal-seam gas, which is dividing communities in Australia.

Scott Tinker, of the University of Texas, said yesterday in Brisbane the US had "gone down the CSG route" in the late 1990s before moving to shale gas in the past few years.

"The big challenge with unconventional gas such as these two is how it affects water, but shale gas is extracted from considerably deeper than coal-seam gas," he told the 34th International Geological Conference.  MORE