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Hydraulic Fracturing Pros And Cons

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Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a technique that involve the injection of more than a million gallons of water, sand and chemical at high pressure down and across into horizontally drilled wells. This pressurized mixture will causes the rock layer to crack. These fissures are held open by the sand particles so that natural gas from the rock layer can flow up the well. This technique allows us to extract energy sources such as tight oil, coal seam gas and oil shale. It has been around since the late 1940s when petroleum engineers were looking for other ways to increase well productions. It turned out to be very effective considering that there are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the U.S. Alone. Therefore, we should support …show more content…

The overwhelming supply of oil and gas may seem a negative aspect today, but there will come a time when these resources will run out. Continuous study into the effects of hydraulic fracturing will also lead to more innovative and safer ideas of extracting natural gas. When both traditional oil drilling and fracturing work hand in hand, fuel shortage could be completely avoided. In addition, hydraulic fracturing is cost effective; the cost for hydraulic fracturing is much cheaper than other options in extracting natural gas. Hydraulic fracturing helps to lessen oil importation costs. With the free flowing of shale gases, the demands will be supplied without having to be dependent on other nations, which is a positive impact to a country’s economy.
Moreover, by using this technique more jobs will available for the people. In 2012, the oil and gas industry in America employed more than 1.2 million people, which further increased due to fracking. So fracking not only increased the supply of natural gas by 65%, but the rate of employment as well. Moreover, it has made a positive impact on the economy, since it accounts for about $385 billion in direct economic activity, as reported in a Nature piece in 2012.Nevertheless, hydraulic fracturing buys the world some time until renewable energy developed and made accessible for

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Governments are questioning where they should allow fracking and use in to get natural gases. Fracking is the process of breaking of rocks to release natural gases using drills or explosions. The fracking used today is hydraulic fracking which is the same process but uses pressurized water to break the rocks up. In order for the pipes to not get clogged up by bacteria they use chemicals to kill them. Where the natural gas is found is dug up is thousands of feet below the surface of the earth.

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About a third of United State's electricity generation is fueled by natural gas, and since most of it is produced from the US itself, it’s not a surprise that some people are hailing it “the clean energy of the future”. But really, how clean is natural gas anyway?     Hydraulic fracking is the process used to produce a third of the natural gas in the US. First, a well is drilled and a steel pipe casing is inserted into the well. Then, a mixture of water and other chemicals are pumped into the formation.

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Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock deep in the ground. The fracking rig drills a pipe many miles below the ground and then injects highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale area to release the shale gas. This process uses millions of gallons of water and hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals. The United Kingdom (UK) government is introducing a new range of licenses that if approved would allow fracking in more areas of the UK and Scotland . Hydraulic fracking should be banned because this process is detrimental to the local environment by damaging vital eco-systems and even damaging the atmosphere.

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As a result, fracking has helped lessen the fear of running out of energy sources, due to increasing the known amount of oil and gas reserves. A proven reserve is the oil and gas we can extract and use with our current technology. Hence, since fracking has allowed us to extract previously out-of-reach oil and gas, the amount of proven reserves has increased. This can potentially allow the U.S. to lessen its dependence on foreign

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This creates a reserve that can be tapped into by a well. Because the oil or natural gas is located in a pocket of porous rocks it can easily flow and is therefore easier to extract. With fracking, the hydrocarbons are locked into low porous rocks meaning that if a conventional well was dug, only the oil or natural gas right next to the well would be extractable and the rest would be unable to flow to the well. In the process of fracking, a well is drilled down and then horizontally through the area where the hydrocarbons are trapped. Then water, chemicals, and sand are pumped into the well, increasing the pressure and causing the rocks to crack.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking” is the process where natural gas is extracted from the layer of shale rock found deep in the earth’s crust. Fracking is a highly controversial topic. Controversy arises from debates tying fracking to contaminated drinking water, excessive amounts of water use, higher greenhouse-gas emissions, the use of carcinogens during the process. Few people that are educated on the topic will not choose a side, most will form a strong personal opinion swaying either for or in opposition to fracking. I believe that fracking is dangerous, not only for those living today, but also those that will have to endure the consequences of fracking in the future.

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Hydraulic fracturing has become an increasing popular method of creating natural gas wells in order to mine fossil fuels from the Earth. In fact, 9 out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States today were created from the process of fracking (Schmidt 2015). Through this process of fracking, millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals are pumped down into the Earth as deep as 10,000 feet below the surface, and then propelled horizontally through rock layers. At such high pressures, this mixture causes the rock to split open so that natural gas from the shale can flow upward through the well that has been created. The gas harvested is then stored in tanks and is ultimately piped to the commercial market.

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While Hydraulic Fracturing has the potential to create around 1.8 trillion of recoverable barrels of shale gas, the amount of damage and waste left behind in its tracks is very concerning to say the least.

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It involves high-pressure injections of water and chemicals into rock formations, which in turn release natural gas (Thompson, “Hydraulic Fracturing Should Be Banned”). However, fracking can result in many negative outcomes. For instance, scientists who conducted the earthquake study for Geology discovered that not only did fracking cause the biggest earthquake in Oklahoma, but it also caused more earthquakes in states that hardly experienced any seismic activity (“Wastewater Injection Spurred Biggest Earthquake Yet, Says Study,” The Earth Institute Columbia University). In fact, quakes have hit so frequently in Oklahoma, that state and oil regulators decided to shut down five disposal wells due to the increasing number of earthquakes in a city named Cushing (“Oil Regulators Shut Down Two Disposal Wells After Earthquakes Near Cushing”, State Impact: NPR).

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Fracking has actually been taking place since the 1940’s, but not until it was combined with horizontal drilling was it extremely useful (“Hydraulics” 71-75). In the past fifteen years the fracking business has skyrocketed. By 2015 thirty-five thousand wells are using fracking methods in order to extract the natural gases each year. Ninety percent of all gas production in the United States would be impossible without fracking (“Hydraulics” 71-75). More than ninety percent of natural gas wells in the U.S. rely on fracking (Howarth, Ingraffea, and Engelder).

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1568 Words | 7 Pages

The search for new, clean energy has been going on for a number of years with a plethora of ideas and innovations as evidence. One of the biggest and most talked about alternative energy sources is natural gas. Found in shale beds underground, natural gas is obtained by a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it’s more commonly known, that breaks apart the rock by using high pressurized chemicals. Though it has been a known process for some time, the argument of whether fracking is worthwhile is still going strong. Some believe the risk it brings to the environment is too high, while others think the positives outrank the negatives.

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1192 Words | 5 Pages

In today’s world, sources of energy are becoming increasingly more scarce, which raises awareness. Obtaining enough energy to sustain future generations is a question that needs to be asked to today’s generation. Many experts believe that hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is one alternative that will create a clean source of energy to fuel the future. However, with other alternatives laying around, research needs to be done in the field to fully identify both the pros and cons of fracking. Many people do not know what hydraulic fracturing is or how it is done.

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“According to a report from analysts IHS, it is not only the 16 states with their own gas and oil production capacity that are set to benefit – all 48 of the contiguous states should receive an economic boost.” (Fracking Boost, 2013.) While many believe that it is does more damage than good, it is hard not to be “pro fracking” when it is substantial to the economy. “These energy sources already support more than 1.7m jobs, and this is predicted to rise to 3m by the end of the decade” (Fracking Boost, 2013.) This is crucial to the US because there are is a decent amount of people in this country that are unemployed.

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Hydraulic Oil Fracking In today’s ever industrious world, oil has became the primary source to our advanced way of life. When most people think of oil they think of the gasoline they put in their vehicles, but oil does a lot more for our world than just get us to work everyday. Oil can be considered the most essential product in our lives. Although some could argue food, water, and shelter are the most important.

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1. Introduction 1.1 What is hydraulic fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is the process of drilling down into the earth’s surface, followed by a high-pressure water mixture, which is directed at the rocks to release the gas and oil that is inside of them. Furthermore water, sand, chemicals and other substances are injected into the rock at a high pressure, in order to allow the gas in the rock to flow out and up to the top of the fracking wells.

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