Related Articles
- Former Shell Oil President, Top Gov. Snyder Staff Share Vision for American Energy Renaissance at Major Detroit-Area Forum
Hofmeister left Shell Oil Company to found Citizens for Affordable Energy, a nonprofit that educates people about how to go green at the local level. He says CFAE was founded on a non-partisan platform in 2011 to educate citizens and government officials about affordable energy solutions, environmental protection, energy alternatives, efficiency, infrastructure, public policy, competitiveness, social cohesion, and quality of life.
- Consumers Energy leads energy optimization in Michigan businesses and homes
The Renewable Portfolio Standard requires 10 percent of the state's energy portfolio be renewable by 2015, Malone says. In 2008, Consumers Energy was producing 4 percent renewable energy, he says, but opened its first wind farm in Mason County.
- Michigan Saves makes going green easy and affordable
More than 2,000 homes have been improved through Michigan Saves, she says, and each homeowner saves, on average, $450 each year on their utility bill. Using a network of local credit unions, Michigan Saves brings financing and contracting experts together to identify ways to lower homeowners' utility costs, Metty Bennett says.
- Valerie Brader: Working to ensure Michigan's energy and environmental future
The adaptability of future energy policies is incredibly important to Gov. Snyder, Brader says. Future energy and environmental policies will focus on affordable energy, reliable energy and protecting our environment, she says, which aim to suit a variety of futures.
- Hydraulic fracturing in Michigan lowers fuel costs and could create jobs, decreasing dependence on foreign energy
Because of the influx of media coverage of hydraulic fracturing, Cook says, people think the process is new and they are increasingly skeptical. "This is something we've been doing for 50 years," he says, "and we've had no problems of any contamination of water wells in northern Michigan."
Natural Gas Fracking Boosts Mining for Frac Sand in Michigan
"Are you tired of sand being kicked in your face? I promise you new muscles in days!" - Charles Atlas
The boom in fracking in some parts of the country has made previously inaccessible hydrocarbons, in the form of oil and natural gas, available. Despite increased demand for Natural gas, fracking has made it possible for natural gas to drop from its high of $10.79 per thousand cubic feet in July 2008 to $2.25 per thousand cubic feet in March 2012. In addition, the Natural Gas Alliance published a study that claims that fracking has led and will lead to explosive job growth in this industry. There are also suggestions that lower energy prices due to natural gas production are driving industry back to the United States.
As for fracking's environmental costs, there have been plenty of reports concerning how fracking depletes water resources because it uses large amounts of water, poisons local wells, results in significant air emissions and a whole of host of other negatives. But one natural resource affected by fracking that has received relatively little attention is the demand for large quantities of sand used during the fracking process.
Sand is used as a "proppant" during the fracking process; that is, it props up fissures created during the fracking process so that oil and gas can be drained from the opened fissures in shale formations. Each fracked well can use as much as 300,000 pounds of sand. As a result, the demand for quality sand to use for fracking has exploded. According to one account, 3/4 of all sand used in fracking comes from the Midwest.
Michigan ranks third in the nation for production of industrial sand and the largest number of sand dunes in the world. Mining of such sands are governed by Part 353 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has issued regulations under Part 353. A list of mining permits is available here.
If one intends to mine dunes within two miles of the Great Lakes shore line, a mining permit is required. In addition to applying for a permit, the MDEQ will hold a public hearing in the local community potentially affected by the mining activity. If successful, the permits last for five years and they can be renewed. Once the developer completes the mining activity, it is required to restore the area for which it must post a bond. Michigan's mining regulations specifically exempt inland sand from the definition of "mineral."
The current fracking boom clearly has benefits and negatives and the debate over its overall benefits will continue for the foreseeable future. Given Michigan's role as one of the largest producers of industrial sand, the effects of fracking have an added dimension. Development pressures will keep Michigan's regulators, the regulated community and environmental public interest groups busy.
The author, Saulius Mikalonis, is an environmental attorney with over 25 years of experience in the Bloomfield Hills offices of Plunkett Cooney. He is also the author of The Green Blawg, in which he writes about environmental law issues for the non-lawyer. In addition to practicing law, Mr. Mikalonis is an adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Auburn Hills Campus, at which he teaches a course entitled "Sustainable Development Law & Policy" and a former Board Member of the Detroit Regional Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
Share