Assessing Potential Shale Gas Impacts on Groundwater Resources: Recommendations for Groundwater Monitoring and Definition of Baseline Conditions

Exploitation of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is highly controversial and concerns have been raised regarding induced risks from this extraction technique. The SHEER project, an EU Horizon 2020-funded project, is developing best practice to understand, prevent and mitigate the potential short- and long-term environmental impacts and risks of shale gas exploration and exploitation. Three major potential impacts were identified: groundwater contamination, air pollution and induced seismicity. This presentation will deal with the hydrogeological aspect. As part of the SHEER project, baseline and operational groundwater monitoring was carried out at an extraction site in Wysin, Northern Poland. Baseline monitoring was carried out from December 2015 to June 2016 in four monitoring wells intercepting the main drinking water aquifer located in Quaternary sediments. Fracking operations occurred in two deviated horizontal wells in June and July 2016. Monitoring continued for 1.5 years post-fracking although no significant gas production occurred during this period. Collected data include measurements of groundwater level, electrical conductivity and temperature at 15-min intervals, field measurements of groundwater physico-chemical parameters and frequent sampling for laboratory analyses. Groundwater samples were analysed for a range of constituents including dissolved gases and stable isotopes. This presentation will provide an overview of the monitoring results and the ensuing recommendations for groundwater monitoring in the context of shale gas exploitation. These recommendations relate to: (1) site characterisation prior to any activity, (2) baseline and on-going groundwater monitoring, and (3) relationships between regulators, operators and general public. During the presentation, we will particularly focus on the monitoring methodology and establishing accurate background values for key parameters for baseline monitoring, including suggestions on how to clearly communicate the information to the general public. We will conclude on techniques to identify deviations from baseline values

Some economic consequences of the transition from civil war to peace

Drawing on evidence from Africa - especially Ethiopia and Uganda - the authors of this volume draw conclusions about economic policy in the aftermath of civil war. A sample of conclusions follows. Civil wars differ from international wars. They are informal, often have no clear beginning and end, weaken rather than strengthen the authority of the state, and leave two unreconciled armies to be demobilized within one territory. Civil wars erode the institutions of civil society, leading to a decline in the stock of social capital, which takes some time to restore. Private investment and government revenue are slow to recover, and military expenditures are not easily reduced. As a result, there is little or no peace dividend in the short run. The period of transition to peace is a particularly suitable time for radical policy reform, despite the high degree of polarization typical in countries engaged in civil war. And speedy reform, far from increasing uncertainty, is likely to reduce it. After a civil war, private agents are fearful both of each other and of the government. This, perhaps even more than physical damage to infrastructure, hinders private-sector-led recovery, as irreversible investment is delayed despite being financeable. The transition to peace is primarily the transition from fear and the defensive responses that became ingrained in wartime. The peace dividend comes as a gradual recovery of confidence induces repatriation of financial and human capital. Such confidence can be boosted by the early sequencing of investment-sensitive policy reforms and by preserving low inflation through direct consumer price index targeting. Lack of confidence can be compensated for by temporary undervaluation of the exchange rate, or however, may prove more difficult to make credibly time-bound. Finally, aid can permit accelerated rehabilitation of the infrastructure (especially transport networks) needed to return to a market economy. Contrary to the studies hypothesis, the authors found that demobilization - at least in Uganda - did not lead to a significant upsurge in insecurity. In the short term, demobilization significantly reduced crime, unless the demobilized lacked access to land. If the demobilized returned to their home areas and were given some assistance, with identifiable exceptions they were able to find income-earning opportunities.Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Economic Theory&Research,,Investment and Investment Climate

Carbon capture using wastes: A review

Potential key strategies for the management of anthropogenic CO2 emissions include mineral carbonation and storage in oil wells and in the oceans. In Europe, a large-scale demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) has recently been given the go-ahead, and the application of mineral carbonation technology (MCT) to serpentine and olive-type minerals. Although less controversial in its approach, MCT involves intensive pre-treatment of the mineral feedstock, and a consequent high sequestration cost USD100-120/tonne CO2 treated. Mineralisation by carbonation is reliant upon the long-term storage of CO2 in thermodynamically stable and environmentally benign carbonate-based reaction products that are persistent over geological-timescales. The use of solid industrial process wastes for storing carbon (via waste carbonation technology, WCT) may provide a shorter-term gain, as the industrialisation of CO2 mitigation technologies takes place. With WCT, CO2 is reacted with alkaline waste residues, to both risk-manage a high pH, and utilise waste CO2 gas, can be used as a pre-treatment prior to landfilling, facilitate valorisation and production of new materials. The present work examines the current status of waste carbonation and investigates the utilisation of seven ‘common’ alkaline industrial residues showing that they have potential to sequestrate 1Gtonne of CO2 worldwide. The projected average cost of USD38-95/tonne of CO2, is competitive with landfill and projected carbon taxes. If WCT is more widely commercially developed an option for the management of significant amounts of carbon could become more quickly established

Enhancement of accelerated carbonation of alkaline waste residues by ultrasound

The continuous growth of anthropogenic CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and the disposal of hazardous wastes into landfills present serious economic and environmental issues. Reaction of CO2 with alkaline residues or cementitius materials, known as accelerated carbonation, occurs rapidly under ambient temperature and pressure and is a proven and effective process of sequestering the gas. Moreover, further improvement of the reaction efficiency would increase the amount of CO2 that could be permanently sequestered into solid products. This paper examines the potential of enhancing the accelerated carbonation of air pollution control residues, cement bypass dust and ladle slag by applying ultrasound at various water-to-solid (w/s) ratios. Experimental results showed that application of ultrasound increased the CO2 uptake by up to four times at high w/s ratios, whereas the reactivity at low water content showed little change compared with controls. Upon sonication, the particle size of the waste residues decreased and the amount of calcite precipitates increased. Finally, the sonicated particles exhibited a rounded morphology when observed by scanning electron microscopy

Low-field H-1 NMR spectroscopy for distinguishing between arabica and robusta ground roast coffees

This work reports a new screening protocol for addressing issues of coffee authenticity using low-field (60 MHz) bench-top H-1 NMR spectroscopy. Using a simple chloroform-based extraction, useful spectra were obtained from the lipophilic fraction of ground roast coffees. It was found that 16-O-methylcafestol (16-OMC, a recognized marker compound for robusta beans) gives rise to an isolated peak in the 60 MHz spectrum, which can be used as an indicator of the presence of robusta beans in the sample. A total of 81 extracts from authenticated coffees and mixtures were analysed, from which the detection limit of robusta in arabica was estimated to be between 10% and 20% w/w. Using the established protocol, a surveillance exercise was conducted of 27 retail samples of ground roast coffees which were labelled as "100% arabica". None were found to contain undeclared robusta content above the estimated detection limit. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Identification and Characterization of AES-135, a Hydroxamic Acid-Based HDAC Inhibitor That Prolongs Survival in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive, incurable cancer with a 20% 1 year survival rate. While standard-of-care therapy can prolong life in a small fraction of cases, PDAC is inherently resistant to current treatments, and novel therapies are urgently required. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are effective in killing pancreatic cancer cells in in vitro PDAC studies, and although there are a few clinical studies investigating combination therapy including HDAC inhibitors, no HDAC drug or combination therapy with an HDAC drug has been approved for the treatment of PDAC. We developed an inhibitor of HDACs, AES-135, that exhibits nanomolar inhibitory activity against HDAC3, HDAC6, and HDAC11 in biochemical assays. In a three-dimensional coculture model, AES-135 kills low-passage patient-derived tumor spheroids selectively over surrounding cancer-associated fibroblasts and has excellent pharmacokinetic properties in vivo. In an orthotopic murine model of pancreatic cancer, AES-135 prolongs survival significantly, therefore representing a candidate for further preclinical testing

A mechanical time-of-flight neutron diffractometer

A mechanical time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffractometer has been constructed and a system of data analysis developed for the study of noncrystalline substances through radial density functions. Measurements to wave vector transfer Qmax > 25 A-1 are readily made; a resolution [Delta]Q/Qr[approximate]2[pi]/Qmax[approximate]0.25 A. These can be partially corrected for termination errors to provide a spatial resolution [Delta]r<0.15 A.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22421/1/0000871.pd