Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, is not a novel concept. The hope of being able to access fossil fuels trapped inside layers of shale deep beneath the Earth’s surface was achieved by the process of fracking, developed in 1903 (energyindepth.com). Over the last century, hydraulic fracturing has become an efficient and environmentally friendly way to access the natural gas needed to meet the United States’ high demands. With the condition of the environment rapidly deteriorating, the process of hydraulic fracturing is being questioned. Fracking has made the natural gas trapped within the shale deposits below the earth’s surface accessible with new techniques, all while generating jobs, stimulation the economy, and safely creating an environmentally friendly source of energy. The hydraulic fracturing process has evolved and improved since its creation over 100 years ago. In fact, engineers and geologists spent more than 40 years perfecting the process, and the payoff has been well worth the effort (energyindepth.com). In addition, efficiency has increased with the discovery of a process known as horizontal drilling (Kaufman and Sidick). Reporters Scott Detrow and Susan Phillips explain how hor¬i¬zon¬tal drilling allows one sur¬face well to access gas trapped in hun¬dreds of acres of shale. “Once the vertical drill hits the shale for¬ma¬tion, it turns hor¬i¬zon¬tally in sev¬eral direc¬tions. The well is then cased with steel and cement. Explo¬sives are then placed at inter¬vals along the hor¬i¬zon¬tal sec¬tion of the well. Under very high pres¬sure, fracking fluid is sent deep into the earth to cre¬ate cracks and fis¬sures in the shale rock. The fis¬sures are then held open by the sand in the fracking fluid, a... ... middle of paper ... ...ssues That Matter. Close To Home. WITF, 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. "History of Hydraulic Fracturing." Energy in Depth. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. "How Fracking Works." Energy From Shale. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. Kaufman, Ethan, and Kelsey Sidick. “Prevention and Removal of Hydraulic Fracturing Pollution in Pennsylvania’s Fresh Water.” University of Pittsburg, Apr.2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2011 Long, Sandy. "What's in That Fracking Fluid?" River Reporter. The River Reporter, 4 Dec. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. McGraw, Seamus. "Pennsylvania Fracking Accident - What Went Wrong - Popular Mechanics." Automotive Care, Home Improvement, Tools, DIY Tips - Popular Mechanics. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. "Pennsylvania Fracking Spill: Natural Gas Well Blowout Spills Thousands Of Gallons Of Drilling Fluid." Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, Apr.-May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.
5. "What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial?" BBC News. BBC, 27 June 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans. The efficiently burning shale gas reduces carbon emission from electricity production plants, reducing carbon footprints on the environment. However, the process of hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of pressurized liquid, which contains toxic chemicals, and some of this water is left over undealt with. The air near fracking sites is often also polluted and unsafe for nearby community residents. Injecting millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals into the rock thousands of feet deep can cause earthquakes, causing a safety hazards for all nearby areas. Hydraulic Fracturing makes rare natural gases easily attainable, boosting the economy and reducing carbon emissions. However, the negative side effects such as contaminated water and air, make hydraulic fracturing a process that may not be worth the benefits.
While methane is not a rare contaminant in drinking water wells, the fracking process seems to allow more methane to seep into the wells. A study headed by Duke University’s Robert B. Jackson, a professor of Environmental Sciences, shows that in Pennsylvania, drinking water wells within one kilometer of fracking sites contain nearly six times more methane than in wells farther away (Banerjee). Methane, no matter where it is contained, is flammable, thereby posing a risk for explosion, which is not good for homes. Reports show that a fracking site in Dimock, Pennsylvania caused methane to leak into a water well, where it detonated, leading to even further contamination of other water wells and homes (Henheffer 30). The domino effect presented here raises fear in critics of fracking, who seek only to stop the process from happen-
In the past couple of years the word fracking has been prevalent in the media whether its been mentioned in the news or in the movie Matt Damon stared in titled “Promised Land”. Many people know it as a method of extracting gas from the earth and don’t inquire further into what hydraulic fracturing actually is. Before the process is explained we should understand why it has become prevalent in the last decade. The reason Hydraulic fracturing has become so popular in the last couple of years is because of the passage of the energy policy act of 2005, which contained the Halliburton loophole. The Halliburton loophole stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing (New York Times 2009). Allowing Hydraulic Fracturing allowed companies to finally access the abundant sources of natural gas legally. This act made it possible to access the vast amounts of natural gas contained in the Marcellus Shale, which created a boom in hydraulic fracturing. What exactly is hydraulic fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting oil and gas, that is not accessible by conventional drilling methods. The process, injects chemically treated water and sand at high pressures into shale rock to release the oil and gas (Pritchard 2013).
The United States as well as the rest of the world are dealing with the issue that the world supply of oil is dwindling. Ever since our peak consumption year in 2005 the United States has been a major consumer of crude oil and petroleum products. As of 2012 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration “The United States consumed 18.6 million barrels per day of petroleum products, making us the world’s largest petroleum consumer.” The U.S. has long been dependent on foreign petroleum products to meet our ever growing energy demands and consumption. With the revolutionary and controversial rise of fracking it is now possible for the United States to become a self energy sufficient country. With fracking, the proper technology and economic
Hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking, is a way to collect some oil natural gas that are in some rocks deep below the surface of the earth.1 This process is done by drilling wells and then injecting water, that contains a few things like sand, at a high pressure down the well that was drilled. What happens here is the rocks, that contains our precious oil and natural gas, become cracked and the sand keeps these cracks open and allows the oil and natural gas to come up to the surface of the earth.
Before one can see the devastating effects of fracking, one must first understand how fracking works. As previously stated, the main intent of hydro-fracking is to access and harvest natural gas that lies below the surface of the Earth. Having formed over 400 million years ago by the collision of tectonic plates (Marsa 3), the Marcellus Shale plays host to a gold mine of natural gas, which is currently at the center of the fracking debate in the Northeastern region of the United States. Unfortunately, access...
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” involves injecting massive amounts of water, chemicals, sand and other material under high pressure into shale formations to break the rock and release the gas trapped inside (McGlynn, D., 2011).
Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) is “the process of injecting water and trace chemicals at high rates and pressures to create subsurface fractures along the length of a horizontal or vertical wellbore and then ‘propping the fracture open with sand or other materials” (Shemeta 6). This process allows for oil and natural gas to flow up through the Earth, allowing access to resources that would not be accessible otherwise. This topic has become debated extensively among environmental activists and the oil and natural gas corporations. One of the states most afflicted by this problem is Oklahoma because of its abundance of natural gas and oil. Oklahoma is one of the leading oil and natural gas exporters in
America is facing an energy revolution. The shift from traditional energy sources such as coal and oil are fading while newer sources are being used to sustain an insatiable thirst for energy. A front-runner is natural gas, a cleanly burning and abundant alternative for conventional energy sources. This nonrenewable resource is found miles underground in prehistoric shale deposits, to show the magnitude “North America has approximately 4.2 quadrillion (4,244 trillion) cubic feet of recoverable natural gas that would supply 175 years worth of natural gas at current consumption rates” locked in these shale deposits (Loris). However, the dilemma comes from how natural gas is extracted from the earth. One of the processes of accessing the natural gas is called Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking”. It is the process of shooting a highly pressurized mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into cracks in the shale deposits, essentially fracturing the shale that then releases the natural gas (Malakoff).
environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has only quietly expanded and profited. This concealed expansion into the nation’s backyard has only
“The Fracking Controversy.” NewsCurrents Read to Know. 28 Jan. 2013: n.p. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
“In 1821 decades before the first oil well was drilled, commercial shale gas was extracted in Fredonia, New York”(Sovacool 250). The availability of natural gas and its relatively clean properties has allowed the expansion of natural gas extraction. By the year 2005, the extraction of shale gas had expanded with the discovery of hydraulic fracturing. In the United States alone it has led to an enormous growth in the oil industry and this technology has been adopted by many other countries around the world including Iran, Canada, and Europe. As a result, the country is less dependent on foreign countries to meet the growing demand for natural gas, and it has improved the country’s economy while producing less carbon emissions into the atmosphere. But what is hydraulic fracturing?
Fracking is a procedure that uses high-pressure fluids to obtain shale gas through the drilling of underground rocks. According to Broderick et all (2011), shale gas1 is found trapped within the shale2 formations, it is a very flexible substance as it has a wide range of uses, such as automobile fuels, domestic use and power generation. Nowadays, the gas demand is increasing vastly. Shale gas is one of the main sources of energy for some countries, such as United States of America and United Kingdom (Broderick et al. 2011). The low permeability3 of the shale makes difficult the flow of the gas inside it, therefore, it makes inviable to extract the substance without the support of hydraulic fracturing. Higher the permeability of a rock, higher the flowing of the fluid on it (King 2012). In order to improve the shale gas extraction, a high pressure mixture of water, sand and other additives is injected in the rock to increase its fractures and facilitates the flowing of the gas and its capture (Howarth et al. 2011). The figure below illustrates the fracking process.
Fracking has significant potential to alleviate our Nation’s dependency on foreign energy supplies; however, stringent regulation and careful monitoring are needed to assuage concerns regarding our nation’s water supplies, the environment and potential for increased seismic activity.