USA, Hawaii:

Lawmaker Raises Alarm About Geothermal Fracking in Hawaii (Honolulu Civil Beat)

Sen. Russell Ruderman
(Courtesy russellruderman.com)

Hawaii doesn’t have oil or natural gas reserves, but a Big Island lawmaker is worried that technology similar to that being used to extract oil and gas on the mainland may soon be employed in Hawaii by geothermal developers.

As a pre-emptive measure, Sen. Russell Ruderman has introduced a bill that would regulate the practice in Hawaii.

Ruderman told the Senate committee that companies want to use "enhanced geothermal" to break through layers of rocks and tap reserves that can't be accessed through conventional technology.

But while the use of hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — in oil and gas development has been controversial on the mainland, geothermal experts say that the technology doesn’t carry the same risks for geothermal.

“It’s definitely different from how natural gas fracking is done,” said Don Thomas, a geochemist and director of the University of Hawaii’s Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes.

Read More.....