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New report calculates flaring of gas from North Dakota fracking industry leading to greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to putting one million cars on the road
BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network, theguardian.com, Wednesday 31 July 2013
 A gas flare burns at a fracking site.
Photograph: Les Stone/REUTERS
The full scale of the gas flaring undertaken by the North Dakota fracking industry has been laid bare, after a new report suggested the practice resulted in approximately $1bn of gas being wasted last year.
The new study from the Ceres group of sustainable investors draws on official figures from the North Dakota Industrial Commission and reveals that the state's oil and gas developers flared 29 per cent of the natural gas they produced during May 2013. The proportion of gas being flared has actually fallen from a peak of 36 per cent in September 2011, but the rapid expansion of the sector means that the total volume being flared is continuing to rise.
The analysis calculates that flaring throughout 2012 saw $1bn of gas burnt, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to putting an additional one million cars on the road.
"The US is now one of the top 10 flaring countries in the world, primarily due to the rapid growth of flaring in North Dakota," said Ryan Salmon, the report's lead author and manager of Ceres' oil and gas program, in a statement. "Although the state's oil and gas industry is stepping up its efforts to curb flaring, the total volume of flared natural gas continues to grow. Investors are looking for producers and regulators to take more aggressive action to prevent the loss of this valuable fuel."
The high cost of oil relative to gas means many developers who are drilling for oil are failing to invest in the infrastructure needed to capture the gas and natural gas liquids that are released alongside the oil.
Investors and officials in North Dakota are now expected to step up pressure on developers to limit levels of flaring and ensure that gas is captured and sold....
This add up to the already extensive pollution caused by fracking process and by the CO2 emissions as result of transport of the gas, the water and chemicals and the building of access roads etc. !
Ak Malten, Pro Peaceful Energy Use
US fracking industry 'wasting $1bn a year in gas flaring'
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