How natural is Natural Gas?
Natural gas extraction and consumption has risen over the past thirty years. Also known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a tremendous amount of uproar is being made in the environmental and political communities. Natural gas use is a great source of energy worldwide, only in America have we had a gold rush affect when it comes to extraction. Natural gas provides less dependence on foreign oil, less need for coal plants, and a more affordable energy source worldwide. There are many advantages to using natural gas but the way in which it is being extracted has caused many people to become sick. The detrimental environmental impacts caused by hydraulic fracturing continue to rise. Not to mention the political pull on big corporations and water quality standards. Currently in the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania and the Barnett shale in Texas, the air and water quality have diminished over the past years since drilling sites ran rampant. Natural gas is natural in terms of how it came to be, but not natural in how they extract it and the problems it is causing everyone involved. To make aware the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, environmental impacts, water quality and air emissions, must be considered.
Background Information
According to the U.S. Department of Energy [USDE], the earliest sightings of natural gas date back to 100 to 125 A.D, referred to as eternal fires by Plutarch’s writings, found in present day Iraq. These flames were more than likely natural gas that was ignited by lighting and escaping from cracks in the ground. During the 1800’s William A. Hart of Fredonia, New York , noticed those blue flames shooting through cracks nearby and decided to drill a twenty-seven foot deep well in...
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... Wastewater. Environmental Health
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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,
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.
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).
Ever since the process of hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—made its entrance to the oil industry, issues and problems surrounding the process have become a common occurrence. Fracking is the controversial process of horizontal drilling (see fig. 1), where millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are pumped deep into an oil well to extract natural gas from the earth’s crust (Ehrenberg 20). This practice has even been banned in some places (see fig. 1). The methane that comes out of the earth and the water used—called fracking fluid—has the potential to cause problems with local ground water supplies. Whether or not fracking is the cause of these problems, concern should be observed during the fracking process to reduce the chances of water contamination among residential areas.
Fracking can cause harm to people, animals, and nature. When they drill into the ground they are pumping chemicals to extract the gas and oil, and this contaminates the water sources around it. “An editorial on gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale in the Post-Star, a newspaper in Glens Falls, New York, contends, “New York state simply can’t take the risk. There are plenty of places to find fuel. It’s not so easy to find a new water supply for 17 million people.”” (Hydrofracking
Environmental and socioeconomic debate over an alternative method of extracting natural gas thousands of feet below the surface using horizontal drilling and hydraulic “fracking” has risen in last twenty years. Fracking is the technique of drilling deep wells under high pressure with sand, water and a variety of chemicals to crack open rocks to release natural gas (hydrogen carbons) and oil from shale or coal bed methane deposits. Townships in Colorado like Lafayette and Fort Collins, voted on a moratorium to ban fracking within city limits. Environmental organizations like the Clean Water Action and Sierra Club claim that that fracking causes environmental degradation, health issues and impacts negatively on communities and their infrastructure. Whereas organizations like the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), Halliburton and other oil and gas industry and construction groups, and some local, state and federal politicians, claim that fracking is a safe method of onshore drilling. By burning natural gas which is considered a clean fuel reduces the amount of greenhouse gases that coal does as well as lower carbon energy use in the future. Fracking decrease dependence on foreign oil and gas, improves ability to generate electricity and heat home cheaply. Fracking supports local economies and provides much needed jobs (energyfromshale.org).
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 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.
In the day and age, we live in there is a shortcoming of fuel and resources, but people keep calling forth advances in the field of renewable energy, but there is not much drive behind their calling. We have to conform to the methods being used in this day and age, but the most complicated and yet controversial method is hydraulic fracking for oil and gas. Hydraulic fracking comes at a great cost. Some of the cost of hydraulic fracking include but are not limited to the water pollution caused by this process and the inevitable damage to the area where the gas and oil were extracted from. In the process of fracking, there is a need to vent the gas build up thus creating more air pollution that is only part of their total air pollution, the heavy machinery used for hydraulic fracking also emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Aside those risk, there is the biggest concern is the damage it may cause to livestock and agriculture.
Hydraulic Fracking, the method of getting natural gas from the ground, has caused a number of negative affects on not only people but the earth. Numerous amounts of health problems are being noticed, air pollution is rising and the waste being dumped has caused issues for people in the area. Many people don’t quite understand what Hydraulic Fracking is doing to us and it is an issue that needs to be recognized..
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.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, pipelines became far more versatile than before. More pipelines were being used to transport natural gas, such as carbon dioxide for oil recovery and other natural gas liquids for a growing heating industry. Pipelines were being constructed to gather oil and gases more than a mile beneath the bottom of the
Numerous reports have been given on the dangerous affects of hydraulic fracturing. One such affect that has been noticed is that drinking water wells near the fracturing sites have been contaminated. During the hydro-fracking process, injected fluids that help to break and keep open the rock bed where the natural gas is kept, have “been known to travel three thousand feet from the well (Goldman).” This fluid could have the potential to enter and contaminate any water well for homes around hydraulic fracturing sites. This incident is one of the major problems that people want to figure out and know about before they allow a fracturing site by them. It has been the most feared outcome of having a fracking site nearby, and it is highly appropriate. One site in Wyoming had this happen, “…in August, EPA reported that eleven of thirty-nine drinking-water wells near a Wyoming hydraulic fracturing operation were contaminated with chemicals used in the fracturing process (Hobson EPA).” In Pennsylvania, another such case occurred, “There have already been severe pollution cases in Pennsylvania, mo...
In the last decade the extraction of natural gas from underground reservoirs has increased. Natural gas supplies 24% of the United States energy demand and is only expected to grow. Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped in shale. Shale is sedimentary rocks that consist of clay minerals that have low permeability. Natural gas that is found in shale is buried in fractures below ground and must be extracted by hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking [10]. One of the most recognized sites for the extraction of natural gas by fracking has been at the Barnett shale in the last decade. The Barnett shale is a region that extends west of Fort Worth, Texas to the Permian Basin and has been known to extend as far south into Mexico. The Barnett shale is a complex system of fractures in which the region has seen new developments in fracking to extract the natural gas from the ground [11].
The use of fossil fuels on a large scale, specifically coal, began with the Industrial Revolution in England. Industries/corporations first used coal as a main source of energy to fuel their factories, and it became even more popular when railroads started. According to the United States Energy Department, "...by the early 20th century coal had become the major fuel in the United States, accounting for nearly 75% of the nation's energy requirements." Soon after, newer and cheaper fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, were high in demand. Energy Supplies, Sustainability, and Costs, by Sandra Alters, states oil was used as the main source of fuel to heat homes and offices, and gas powered the growing number of cars (57). "Oil shoved aside coal as the world's primary fuel, just as coal had replaced wood", says Tom Mast in Over a Barrel: A Simple Guide to the Oil Shortage (15). Most Americans were not concerned wit...