The controversy that lies behind the use of 'Fracking'
7.2 Billion people heavily rely on oil in todays world. With such weighty demand comes a substantial amount of pressure for oil firms to extract, and supply hydrocarbons. This is a major reason as to why oil firms are reliant on hydraulic fracturing in order to extract fossil fuels miles beneath the ground. This cycle of demand and supply makes this subject vitally important to research and discuss. This investigation will be based on the controversy that surrounds the use of 'Fracking' (Hydraulic Fracturing). Hydraulic Fracturing is a method carried out by energy producing firms to extract hydrocarbons from beneath the ground, located in specified areas across the globe. This report will mainly focus on the controversy that it has stirred within today’s society, and how it has managed to cause division amongst the people’s opinions on such method. There will be a brief exploration of people’s varying opinions as well as evaluating them. An analysis of the implications of Fracking will be investigated deeply, in order to formulate a conclusion after the consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of Fracking. This piece of research will mainly divide the benefits and drawbacks of the use of Fracking, withholding many points from each side.
What is 'Fracking'?
Engineers have known for years, that there is a mass amount of hydrocarbons trapped thousands of FT under ground, however, back in the days, technology was not available to provide solution to the high demand of oil that is existent. Fortunately, modern technology has allowed engineers to access such depth and extract hydrocarbons. A single field may allow engineers to educe mass amounts of oil, satisfyi...
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Another reason why the U.S should significantly increase fracking because fracking plays a key role in our nation's clean energy future. Fracking causes the U.S. to have vast reserves of natural gas that are commercially viable as a result of advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies enabling greater access to gas in shale formations. Responsible development of America's shale gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits.
The title of the article I read is What is fracking and why is it controversial? It starts off by explaining what fracking is. Fracking is the process of drilling down in the ground until rock is hit. Once rock is hit a high pressured solution of sand, water, and chemicals is shot into the rock to dissolve it so it can release the gas trapped inside the rock. After it is released it flows out of the top of the well. It is usually done vertically through shale rock or horizontally. The article then explains that fracking is the short version of hydraulic fracturing. Fracking is controversial for multiple reasons the first is that you need large amounts of water which is a environmental drain. There is also concern that the chemicals
Ever since knowledge of fracking has entered the common domains, people have been bombarded with arguments for or against the process. Fracking is a process in which a drill is used to drill into the earth and extremely high-pressure water, combined with sand and chemicals, is used to force natural gas out of the ground to be used in any number of ways. The article being analyzed in this instance is firmly within the anti-fracking camp. Unfortunately, the article is also very much unreasonable mostly for the lack of evidence for its claims.
No matter how you look at the effects of fracking, the loose is greater than the gain. It could help the country economically, by providing many jobs and being able to produce our own fuels. We would save a lot of money, but would be wasting our environment. The effects of the chemicals used would slowly be killing us. They would be left in our ground water and we would consume this without even knowing. Our water sources would become so contaminated that we would not be able to consume it. If we do not stop fracking now, we will only be asking for a dangerous future.
Oil and natural gas companies have developed a way to drill for natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture consisting of methane and several other hydrocarbons that occur naturally underground. Natural gas is used as fuel for heating, cooking, and even in some automobiles like the “RideOn” buses. This technique has only recently become economically feasible with the rising prices of fossil fuels, and there is much potential for recovering natural gas through fracking. However, fracking has many waste products and unusual side effects caused by the unnatural forces and materials used. Fracking has a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment through pollution and earthquakes.
“Should fracking be used to release oil and natural gas?” First what is fracking? Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc., so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. Since the Industrial Revolution the amount of energy consumption has risen rapidly. In the method of fracking, porous rock is fractured by the use of water, sand and chemicals in order to release the gas stored inside. So the question is should people still continue to use fracking or not? Let's look at some pros and cons.The method of fracking has been around since the 1940’s.According to source c “Over 60% of all new oil and gas wells are drilled by using fracking”. This shows how long and effective
In his article “How Fracking Is Bad for Our Bodies,” Jason Silverstein who is a lecturer and writer in residence in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School states the problem of hydraulic fracking in cities in the US. Silverstein article, which was published in, The Atlantic, on October 8, 2013, shows the problems caused by hydraulic fracking. Although Silverstein provides a wide array of disadvantages of fracking, he does not mention any advantages brought by fracking.
Figure 1: This diagram shows that there are several different layers of earth. The layer that has our oil and natural gas in it happens to be down quite a ways, even thousands of feet. This oil and natural gas can be collected by cracking the rocks with water at high pressure.
Natural gas burning plants have replaced many coal burning plants, which benefits the environment greatly. Also, as the United States continues to become a prominent exporter of natural gas, the price of natural gas has dropped by about 30%. This is why I believe it is important to strictly regulate fracking, as opposed to stopping the practice as a whole. If regulations were placed that called for the fracturing to take place exclusively within the layer of shale, the toxic fluids and the gas would not have access to pathways that would allow them to seep into neighboring aquifers or permeable bedrock. This would make groundwater contamination by hydraulic fracturing much more unlikely. Also if the companies that engaged in the technique were required to be more transparent and disclose the chemicals that they were using in their fluid, it would allow the public to have more power and discretion in regards to which companies they support. If a company was found to use toxic chemicals in their fluid, then pressure could be put on the company to change their fluid’s composition through boycotts or through political
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...
Fracking has contributed to positive economic impacts and a closer sense of energy independence for the United States. Oil and natural gas rich areas underneath North Dakota have grown to contribute a large percentage of these resources to the overall production in the United States. The fact that the United States holds the potential to gain full energy independence could be not only monumental for the country in a global context but also extremely beneficial to the citizens. Less dependence on foreign exports could mean a healthier future for the country. The energy security potential of fracking, balanced with the environmental risks, make it important that it not be a yes-no question, but rather find a solution to satisfy it in a greater context.
As with anything, there are both risks and benefits involved with fracking. Fracking has proven beneficial in the fact that it allows access to more gas and oil. Statistically speaking, the United States is ranked #6 in the world in terms of proven natural gas reserves. The US has approximately 6.93 trillion cubic centimeters of natural gas, accounting for 3.64% of all
Fracking has become a highly controversial and publicized topic due to rising concerns and growing analysis into the mutual benefits of hydraulic fracturing to retrieve natural gas and oil reserves. With concerns of water pollution, mismanagement of toxic waste and irreversible
There is a list of both good and bad things about fracking. Some of the good are true, but mostly, the bad take over. Fracking helps the U.S economically by limiting the amount of resources that we have to buy from other countries. There are enough fossil fuels underground to make us energy independent. There are also bad things about fracking.