23 Shale Wells Drilled This Year Alone in Poland - 41 More to Go...

A nice slogan. lol

Ohh i see, its most probably solar anyway.

Will you be selling generated power to the grid? What kind of subsidies/incentives do they have in Poland? i did a lot of research back in 2010, solar was obviously going to be massive in the UK as soon as they introduced the Feed in Tariff. Didnt last long though did it, the gov soon realised they got that one wrong and slashed it.

Wind power for all intents and purposes has massive potential, Denmark produce 20% of their demand from wind alone.

Do you really think Fukushima is something to do with hydrocarbons in general and fracking in particular?

Of course i dont it was an example of how your "thats business" comment can come back to bite you in the @ss. Big picture Jon, you missed it again.

Fukushima is state owned and operated by a consortium who are not as far as I know criticised for unfettered capitalism. Be careful of your comments coming back and biting you all over.

Anyway, what's this got to do with hydrocarbons?

And do you understand the difference between deep and shallow fracking or know how long Poland (and the UK) have been doing it already?

Dah nuclear power as whole. Big picture Jon, Big picture, now think about possible environmental disasters related to fracking and then put 2+2 together. You getting it yet mate? Youre pretty close to figuring this one out.

You do realise that Poland and the UK have been deep fracking for decades without a Megatsunami. Or Godzilla rising from the Baltic and terrorising Gdynia. Or even one of the largest quakse in history (MMS9) which as I recall caused Fukushima.

Perhaps not...

What did i say about being reasonable Jon?

If only you practised what you pretend to preach. To be reasonable, you'd have to explain why fracking has not yet caused a Tsunami.

Or admit your Fukushima reference was nonsense.

This is pathetic, im not prepared to lower myself to your idiocy. You always pull this nonsense.

Or better, tell us why you metioned one of the largest tectonic megathrust events in the recorded history of our planet and pretended you see a connection with Polish fracking?

Merged: Last US shale seeker pulls out of Poland

ConocoPhillips have become the last Ameircan energy concern to pull out of shale prospecting in Poland after investing $220 million in the project since 2009. Despite numerous test drillings, no economically extractable deposits could be found. Poland launched the shale project in the belief that her own energy source would lessen the country's dependence on Russian imports. The PO government's criminal neglect has also stalled the construction of a liquid gas port on the Baltic.

Actually, the LNG terminal is almost complete. Nothing to do with PO and everything to do with EU tendering rules obliging Poland to select the lowest bidder.

As for shale gas, obviously if you actually cared about Poland, you'd be happy that it's proving to be a huge bust.

I'm no shale expert and am aware of the environmental concerns, but the biggest bust of all is remaining on Putin's energy-blackmail list.

Which is why even if shale gas doesn't really happen, Poland is still doing a fantastic job on energy diversification.

Did you know that in recent times, the ability to import gas from Germany and Norway has come on-line without much fanfare or fuss?

Poland has also gone very cold on the EU when it comes to coal.

As far as I know, the issues with shale gas in Poland is that the regulatory environment in Europe is drastically different to the USA. Over there, the gas companies were allowed to more or less do what they wanted in order to establish the industry. Combine that with the fact that the reserves have proved to be far less than expected, and with a low price of gas, there's just no point in carrying on.

However, I'd say that getting another LNG terminal online, perhaps somewhere further east, might be a very wise idea. Getting more gas pipelines in place, particularly to Lithuania also makes a lot of sense.

Can't disagree, although I feel more could be done. However, since I sell and service pumps for waste to energy plants (among other things), I can say a lot is being invested into renewable energy right now, partly from Polish gov and partly from EU funding. I can name over 15 large investments ongoing right now.

The biggest enemy of renewable energy and energy independence in Poland is what I call the "coal lobby".

Since you seem to be such an energy expert, what about the gasificaton and/or liqueficaiton of coal? There was talk about that a while back, Has anything come of it? If Poland could find a way to de-toxify coal emissions, that would be a great breakthrough considering the country's vast deposits.

Anything that comes from coal (or any other fossil fuel) is not renewable energy if that is what you are asking. It is replacing one poisonous addiction with another poisonous addiction. It is like burning refined gasoline instead of burning crude oil. While one is less harmful at the location of consumption (let's not get into production site), they are both fossil fuels (not renewable) and neither one is CO2 neutral.

Could not edit, but wanted to add:

Actually, Poland's coal deposits are dwindling and the cost of extraction of Polish coal is higher than Russian coal for example- which happens to have higher calorific value on average, meaning more energy.

The cost is higher specifically because deposits are running out and they have to dig deeper and deeper to extract more coal. Why do you think Polish coal mining companies are crying? Besides the rampant corruption, they are trying to survive on selling a product that costs them more to offer than it does to import from Russia - customs and transportation costs included.

As I recall, wasn't it someone involved with coal and Russia that was behind the whole recording of politicians in Warsaw?

Polonius, yes, it's an area that Poland should really try and focus on. The EU will provide considerable resources in that direction, and should something viable happen that doesn't result in huge environmental issues, then the EU will fund it even more. The two biggest problems are that the price of gas at the minute is too low to make alternative technologies worthwhile, and that gassification of coal results in a significant environmental impact.

The issue of the trade unions is also a huge problem. They have a lot to lose from on-site gassification and carbon capture schemes, as the price of coal would drastically reduce due to the lack of need to transport it. They would also lose considerable influence over the mines, which they may not want.

It's a tough one, but in my opinion, the best approach would be to get the LNG terminal online and then try and convince the United States to start exporting LNG too. That should make the construction of additional storage tanks feasible, and should allow Poland to import a huge amount of LNG. Combined with German and Norwegian exports and re-exports, Poland should be pretty secure energywise.

Teargas, I don't remember. The "coal lobby" is knee and elbow deep into scandals regularly so I wouldn't be surprised. They follow a "modus operandi" not too different from modern organized crime.

Further on what you said on energy security, Poland should increase investments and efforts towards renewable energy and (perhaps) move forward with nuclear energy as soon as possible.