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Catalyst: Coal seam gas production

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A man in a hard hat stands beside gas pipes
Catalyst: Coal seam gas production

SUBJECTS:  Science, Technologies

YEARS:  5–6, 7–8, 9–10


The latest coal rush is sweeping across Queensland, but this time without having to dig the coal up.

Animations show the processes used to extract coal seam gas (CSG) out of the ground, which can then fuel gas turbines in power stations.

Discover how CSG avoids some of the environmental effects of traditional coal mining, but has environmental problems of its own.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Why are scientists investigating cleaner forms of coal energy production? What are the problems with traditional coal energy production?
  2. 2.What is coal seam gas? Watch the animations that show how coal seam gas is extracted out of the ground. What do you notice? The presenter mentions 'There is a catch' suggesting that coal seam gas has its own issues. What does he mean?
  3. 3.Why is coal seam gas considered a cleaner form of energy than coal? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using coal seam gas as an energy source?
  4. 4.Imagine if you had to explain whether coal seam gas is a suitable form of energy. What's your view and what key points would you use to back up your ideas?



Date of broadcast: 22 Feb 2007


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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