Protests have stymied gas production in the Netherlands that could replace most of Russia's supply to Germany

This winter may see Europeans freezing to death, unable to heat their homes as natural gas supplies dwindle. Unemployment and bankruptcies will soar, as companies find themselves unable to cover their costs due to high energy prices. Germany’s vaunted chemical industry, heavily dependent on natural gas feedstock, is likely to wither on the vine. An economic and social disaster reminiscent of the 1930s is possible. The word “deindustrialization” is becoming real.

And yet, as Bloomberg reports:

Beneath the windmill-dotted marshlands of the Netherlands lies Europe’s largest natural gas reserve. The sprawling Groningen field has enough untapped capacity to replace, as soon as this winter, much of the fuel Germany once imported from Russia.
Instead the field is in the process of shutting down, and the Netherlands is rebuffing calls to pump more, even as Europe braces for perhaps its toughest winter since World War II. The reason: Drilling has led to repeated earthquakes, and Dutch officials are loath to risk a backlash from residents by breaking promises.

Groningen Gas Field

There is about 450 billion cubic meters of gas, worth a trillion dollars, available now and expansion is possible raising that by 50%. But extraction of the gas has caused subsidence and earthquakes that have damaged some homes in the area:

Wilnur Hollaar, 50, who’s lived in Groningen for almost two decades, is still seething over the way officials ignored his concerns. “When I bought this house in 2004, it was a palace,”
Hollaar says of his home, which was built in 1926 and features stained-glass windows and detailed stonework. But like thousands of homes in the area, it’s been damaged by quakes; it’s full of cracks and the facade is sinking. “My house has turned into a ruin,” he says.

That’s a shame, and Mr. Hollar has my sympathy. But instead of receiving overly generous compensation allowing him to buy an even nicer home, people are going to freeze to death or have their lives ruined by unemployment. What about the “greater good” that utilitarians preach about?

The damage is not insignificant, but apparently not life threatening:

Groningen recorded its first small tremors in 1986. Since then, there have been hundreds more. Although most are undetectable except by instruments, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit the province in 2012, resulting in thousands of property damage claims. Starting in 2014, the Dutch government has placed ever-stricter limits on production from the field, and the output dropped from 54 billion cubic meters in 2013 to an expected 4.5 billion cubic meters this year.
Of the approximately 327,000 homes in the region, at least 127,000 have reported some damage, according to the Groningen Mining Damage Institute. More than 3,300 buildings have been demolished in the area since 2012 because earthquakes have rendered them unsafe, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.

That is indeed good news ...

For the Great Reset, GloboHomoNazis, Deep Swamp, and FR War Cheerleaders.

The Netherlands is citing the measurement of minor tremors in the region where drilling was taking place as a reason to pull the plug.

To be sure, tremors generated by oil and gas extraction – particularly following fracking operations – are a real phenomenon. The extraction of the fuel can leave voids deep under the ground that sometimes collapse, leading to a small tremor. Also, some wells are drilled to dispose of wastewater from the drilling process. The introduction of that water can have a lubricating effect on naturally occurring faults, leading them to slip and create a tremor.

But the reality is that few of the drilling-induced tremors are ever large enough to notice without a sensitive seismometer. The vast majority are lower than magnitude 3. The United States Geological Service notes that a couple of rumblers of this sort have reached above 4.0, but that’s relatively rare and a magnitude 4 tremor is still not likely to do much damage beyond knocking a few glasses off the shelves.

Is that really a reason to shut down one of the richest natural gas reserves in all of Europe? Apparently, it is, at least in the eyes of the European Union. But what are they doing for energy if the Russian supplies are cut off and they refuse to drill for their own supplies? Never fear! They’ve already come up with an answer. They’ve gone back to burning coal.

No, fracking does not produce tremors or earthquakes. That is a Lie.

Geologists map every faultline and avoid them when creating a drill plan.

It is pure BS.

Injection wells are controlled 100% by gov’t and those morons place them near faultlines.

These gas fields exist so only extraction should be taking place.

Homes get damaged from heavy trucks driving by on inferior gov’t designed roads.

Don’t fall for the Bovine Excrement from the uneducated environmentalists.

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