The request for energy around United States is becoming a big issue. Due to the change in climate and environmental problems, the necessity to increasing energy is rising. Being as though natural gas has become a substitute fuel source for power plants, it also has the power to put heat in homes and aid as fuel for vehicles. Having natural gas is an advantage to lessen oil and coal in the United States. Having the Marcellus Shale drilled in can bring a lot of advantages, disadvantages, and financial growth of developing energy sources.
The Marcellus shale, or known as the Marcellus formation is a marine sedimentary rock in the eastern part of North America. The Shale occurs in the subsurface beneath much of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Small areas of Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia are also underlain by the Marcellus Shale (Marcellus Shale - Appalachian Basin Natural Gas Play). The shale has natural gas throughout the rock and is known as an alternative tank of hydrocarbons, because the oil and gas comes from sandstone. In the Marcellus Shale overview it states that, “The Shale is about 600 square miles under New York, PA, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia, The shale extends under the Great Lakes and into Ontario, Canada. Until recently, it had been overlooked because a vertical gas well drilled through the shale would not yield enough to be economically feasible.” Marcellus shale spreads throughout the whole eastern part of the U.S.
The Marcellus Shale - Appalachian Basin Natural Gas Play article states that, Natural Gas plays a role in the Marcellus shale in three ways. One is the within the pore spaces of the shale. Two is within vertical fractures that break through the shale, and third absorbed on mineral grains and organic material. The gas that comes into the pore space is very difficult of escape because they are very small and not connected well.
There are a lot of factors that comes with developing the Marcellus shale. One is that prices have gone up for natural gas. Pop city Media stated that, “Prices spiked up, from about $3 per thousand cubic feet in 2002 to over $11 in summer 2008”. Another factor is using the hydraulic fracturing, drilling in the shale this way makes it more available and inexpensive to the development. Lastly, climate movement made natural gas and source for fuel.
Natural gas is very dangerous, especially when the health of people is the main problem. The side effects of natural gas, according to Tox Town the article points out “oxygen can be reduced, causing dizziness, fatigue, nausea, headache, and irregular breathing” and even “death”. Pennsylvania is suffering in a tremendous way people are not consuming water like they used to. In fact, the video from Fracking Hell: The Untold Story” have people explaining how their rivers and have yellow colors, and how strong the water smell. They cannot wash dishes,
The United States has an immense amount of proven natural gas reserves that could become a major source for the nation's energy future (1). The mining of the natural gas resources have become feasible and cheaper due to the advancement of hydraulic fracturing technologies which have increased the amount the extraction and enabled “greater access to gas in shale formations” (2). Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking of shale formations has positive benefits that includes economic growth and the natural gas extracted is cleaner than coal and oil, however it has caused serious environmental problems and possibly could be the cause of recent seismic activity in areas where fracking operations exist (3).
Marcellus Shale drilling is a dangerous process with many consequences. The Marcellus Shale industry is said to create new jobs and be a source of “clean” energy (Environmental) (Griswold). However, this process uses hundreds of deadly chemicals, it causes pollution, and it has few regulations. A solution to these negative consequences would be to create and enforce more regulations. After all if you had to pick between safe resources and a cheap, risky energy source, which would you choose?
It is a known fact Pennsylvania is greatly impacted by the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale is a layer of black shale located under the Appalachian basin from Prehistoric times. Natural gas and oil are being extracted from this layer for their increasing economic value, with natural gas having a worth of $10 for every thousand cubic feet of it. Furthermore, improved technology such as “hydraulic fracturing” and “horizontal wells” has made Marcellus drilling more efficient and has increased the implementation of the drilling as a source of economic opportunity for not only drilling companies but for the whole state of Pennsylvania (“Marcellus Shale”). An important part of this Marcellus activity is that “most drilling is occurring in rural areas” according to Joseph Morris, a poll analyzer from Mercyhurst College (Begos, Kevin. “Gas”). Amid the economic opportunity, farmers in these areas are resistant to signing over their farmland to drilling companies. Bradford County farmer Carol French, who wrote an editorial in The Patriot News, stated, “Has anyone considered how these gas developments and industrial uses on farmland will impact agriculture production for years to come if a farmer does not have the necessary means or information to negotiate protection measures?” She fears that drilling will ruin rural property and thus unnecessarily change or hurt farmers’ economic way of life (French). However, because of the vital economic benefits that Marcellus Shale drilling has for Pennsylvania, farmers in rural areas of the state should choose to allow drilling on their property.
The United States relies on imports for about forty percent of its crude oil, which is the lowest rate of dependency since 1991 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration. Today our country is trying to keep on track in becoming less and less dependent. When it comes to the topic of the future ways the United States will get its fuel, most of us readily agree that the United States should become more independent by using natural gas that is already here on our land. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of the consequences drilling for natural gas brings. Whereas some are convinced drilling is safe, others maintain that it is actually in fact dangerous. Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking", the terms for drilling for natural gas, is dangerous to our public health and to the environment because of the water contamination it causes. Therefore, it is not something that should become a project for alternative fuel used by the United States.
...ural gas is very expensive. The main positive aspect is that, when burned, natural gas gives off lower emissions to our environment oil. In the future, due to its great abundance, I am sure that offshore drilling will remain viable to our society for many years to come.
Drilling for Natural Gas in the Marcellus and Utica Shales: Environmental Regulatory Basics [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Retrieved from Agriculture and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University website: http://wayne.osu.edu/topics/agriculture-and-natural-resources/gas-and-oil-lease-information/2011-wayne-county-oils-and-gas-lease-meeting-resources/Marcellus_Shale_Fact_Sheet.pdf
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...
The United States spends billions of dollars on importing oil. This is represented as almost two-thirds of the country’s entire annual trade deficit. Now that there is more access to gas deposits, there is no need to rely on other countries around the world for fossil fuels. America can instead rely on their own resources to provide energy for the residents. America is already the world's largest producer of natural gas thanks to shell drilling and the country's sits on 2 of the world's largest gas fields gas production has soared 20 percent in five years in the United States now should have enough gas to last generations soon the nation will begin exporting gas and unimaginable possibility just a few years ago when energy supplies look set to run out in the construction of gas importing facilities was considered a matter of national urgency (Zuckerman, G.,
The United States has become one of the leading producers of natural gas in the world, and now is an exporter of natural gas as well. As natural gas imports increase, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ?Expects the United States to
Firstly, according to David Malakoff’s article The Gas Surge, if natural gas were used as an alternative to oil and coal, the U.S would decrease its dependency on foreign oil, which could potentially calm the social conflicts in the Middle East as well as provide a domestic and cheaper energy source. Furthermore, According to Nicolas Loris’s article, the U.S would be a top exporter of natural gas and a mecca of opportunity for domestic and international companies to create industry in the United States, which would lead to more economic success and more jobs. Loris also states, “the abundance of shale gas brings the possibility of low, stable prices” which can assuage the current and constant rising of other forms of
America is becoming more and more worried about where it will get the resources it needs for energy. Coal is becoming an expensive resource and under close observation due to its effect on our atmosphere with its carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear power has created concerns since the recent Japanese disaster. We return to looking for a way to have fuel needed to supply us with the energy needs of today, and also the future. Natural gas then presents itself as an option. Natural gas is being celebrated as a solution to sustain us till we can become more dependent on renewable resources, such as wind and solar. The source for all this gas is literally right under our nose. It lies in shale formations underground. One such formation, the largest in America the Marcelus Shale, a huge formation in parts of Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania contains more than $500 billion worth of gas in one area alone.
The number of wells fracked grew significantly, reached 3000 wells per month by the mid 1950s. During the 1970s, there was a huge proliferation of massive hydraulic fracturing, resulted in an enormous number of wells that were stimulated by fracking. By the late 1970s, the process was widely used all different countries and religions, including Canada, Germany, Netherlands and England. It was not until 1999 that scientists found a new method to apply high pressure fluids to rubblize hard-rock formations and extract oil and gas trapped inside. Also, with the invention and application of horizontal drilling to fracking, it became possible to extract larger amounts of oil and natural gas from fracking shales. This absolutely has brought a revolution for the oil and gas industry of the U.S and changed the U.S energy picture from scarcity to abundance. Producers and drillers are now able to exploit a huge amount of natural gas and oil that were locked away in shells and hard rock formations previously. According to many credible reports, about 90 percent of today’s producing wells are stimulated by fracking; up to 35 percent of U.S natural gas production is from shale gas, compares with only 2 percent ten
Hydraulic Fracturing and Directional Drilling have allowed the production of oil and gas from “unconventional” resources, like shale gas and shale oil. Natural gas demand is increasing, in addition, is increasingly becoming an important role in meeting demand for energy in the United States. Thus Hydraulic Fracturing stimulated shale among the fastest emergent energy sources in the United States, a source that seemed impossible to few years ago. Natural gas, the cleanest burning fossil fuel, now provides approximately 40% of the country’s electricity generation [7].
This expansion has helped provide new employment opportunities, increased economic development, and gained the United States more independence from foreign energy sources. Natural gas extraction can also be considered a cleaner energy solution. Compared to burning coal, burning natural gas releases 58% less carbon dioxide (Finkel & Law, 2011). Despite these advantages, too little research has been completed to know the full impact that hydraulic fracturing can have. This inadequacy has led to poor risk communication with communities that have well fields, and has allowed drilling companies to be irresponsible with their practices because there is limited regulations in place. This fast pace has not allowed time for environmental and public health advocates to accurately evaluating the potential risks to their respective