ipl-logo

Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracturing

1736 Words7 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a drilling technique used for extracting oil or natural gas from deep underground.

Fracking is a hotly debated environmental and political issue. Advocates insist it is a safe and economical source of clean energy; critics, however, claim fracking can destroy drinking water supplies, pollute the air and contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

How fracking works
Most fracking wells in use today rely on two technologies: hydraulic fracturing, which has been in use since the 1940s, and horizontal drilling, a technique that first became widespread in the 1990s.In simplified terms, the fracking process starts with a well that is drilled vertically or at an angle from the …show more content…

But by 2010, that number had almost doubled to 510,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). And every year, about 13,000 new wells are drilled. According to a 2014 a study, at least 15.3 million Americans have lived within a mile of a fracking well that has been drilled since 2000.

The areas where fracking is most profitable include the Great Plains from Canada south into Texas, the Great Lakes region and an area known as the Marcellus Shale, which reaches from central New York into Ohio and south to Virginia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Marcellus Shale region is particularly attractive to gas drillers because it's a rich supply of natural gas — some call it "the Saudi Arabia of natural gas" or "Frackistan" — and because many of the region's rural communities are economically depressed and eager to attract an energy industry that enjoys handsome profits.

How safe is fracking?
Proponents of fracking claim that the drilling technique is a safe and clean method of securing essential sources of power that will meet U.S. energy needs for …show more content…

Fracking is believed to be the cause of Oklahoma's strongest recorded quake in 2011 and more than 180 tremors in Texas between 2008 and 2009. To start off 2015, an area of North Texas had nine confirmed earthquakes in a 24-hour period. Fracking is being investigated as the cause.

According to a 2000 study of the Orito Field in Colombia, only around 15 percent of proppants can be removed after the fracking is done. Does leaving these foreign substances in a place where they weren't originally harmful? "No, there are no long- or short-term problems with leaving frack proppants in the fractures (fissures)," Rick Chamberlain, managing director the Berkeley Research Group, told Live Science.

Bjornerud agrees, "Even with the sand propping open the cracks, the weight of the overlying rock will, over months and years, cause the cracks to close and the rock’s permeability return to about what it was before the fracking." According to Bjornerud, this is a problem for oil and gas production since the process has to be done quickly, soon after the fracking fluids have opened up micro-cracks, or the amount of oil and gas that can be extracted rapidly decreases as the cracks progressively

Show More
Related
116 Words | 1 Pages

What is fracking? Fracking is the process of drilling into the ground and releasing a high-pressure water mixture into rocks in order to fracture them and release the natural gases inside. The water mixture consists of water, sand and chemicals. Fracking is beneficial because it lowers the prices of oil and gas, reduces America’s dependency on foreign oil, and reduces CO2 contribution.

Read More
1443 Words | 6 Pages

There are over one millions wells in the United States of American that have been fracked since the 1940’s (Brantley, 2013). “Fracking,” also well know as hydraulic fracturing, is a process that is used to extract natural gas from rocks. Wells are drilled vertically into the ground to a desired depth, and then they continue horizontally between shale rock that is believed to contain natural gas. Once the well is drilled, a mix of water, sand-like substances, and other chemicals are pumped into the well at extremely high pressures in order to fracture the shale rock which will release the gas trapped inside. Once the gas flows out of the rock and into the well, it will be drawn back up to the surface and then it is processed, refined, and shipped

Read More
2027 Words | 9 Pages

Every year about 13,000 new hydraulic fracturing wells are made in the United States alone (Lallanilla 2015). So what is hydraulic fracturing , also known as “fracking”, and why are so many of these wells popping up? Hydraulic fracturing is a process that recovers natural gases and oil from shale rock. The shale rock or sometimes coalbed methane formations are then drilled and a well is made as deep as 10,000 feet below the surface. After a well has been drilled the actual fracking process begins.

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

While delving into the advantages and disadvantages of domestic natural oil and gas production I realized that hydraulic fracturing has proven itself to be a valuable asset to the United States economy. In “Fracking: Fix It or Forget It?” by Daniel E. Klein, Daniel shares with his readers that “in the last decade, shale development technologies have become technically and commercially feasible. Pairing horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” has revolutionized the oil and gas outlook as few other industries’ ever have done before. Increased domestic production of both oil and gas has led to enhanced energy security, reduced fuel imports, and improved balanced of payments for the United States.

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

Natural gas is said to be the fuel of the recent future but at this point in time it as a resource that is quickly dwindling. A process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking is being used to access hidden reserves of gas in shale deposits under the ground. The process of fracking isn't new, but is being used more frequently and in more areas as easy-to-access deposits run out. This is where the dispute comes in; is the economic gains of fracking worth the environmental harm it causes? Fracking is too dangerous to risk when finding ways to access natural gas because it can affect water sources, has long lasting effects on the environment, and ruins areas surrounding the well site.

Read More
808 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1275 Words | 6 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a very controversial method of capturing oil and natural gas. It involves shooting a solution of water, sand, and almost 600 chemicals at extreme pressure into underground wells, causing the rock formations to crack. This allows the oil and natural gas to flow more freely, allowing previously trapped resources to be harvested. Fracking is so controversial because the potential monetary gains are enormous, yet the environmental impacts are devastating. The documentary “Gasland”, directed and narrated by Josh Fox, provided first hand insight into the fracking industry.

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

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).

Read More
1284 Words | 6 Pages

The amount of fracking has increased by access to the oil reserves and natural gas in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois and many other states. During the late 1900's there have been many arguments on whether fracking does contaminate water or not. The EPA (environmental protection agency) have studied this problem at a site in Alabama. Over the time there weren't any evidence on contamination or any problem in the aquifers. Also another research conducted by the U.S department of energy, found that the fracking is a "safe and effective" technology from deep geological formations.

Read More
1763 Words | 8 Pages

Fracking is a useful way to provide energy, however it affects the environment in many ways. Hydraulic Fracturing is a procedure used to extract oil and natural gas by inserting water, sand, and liquids such as chemicals in the subsurface, which indicates that this process can lead to dangerous risks (Weible 232). That method involves drilling feet underground through layers of stones, which indicates that the drilling fractures the rocks (Newton 23). Furthermore, fracking has some benefits that last a brief period, but it is not worth the risk. In fact, fracking is a political and environmental issue that has impacted the world and people’s lives.

Read More
1308 Words | 6 Pages

Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, is a form of collecting natural gas by driving a drill with a high pressure of water, sand and chemicals in through dense rock formations such as shale, tight sandstone or coal beds to rupture the rock and free gas. Fracking commenced in the late 1940’s drilling into the Earth to free oil and gas confined in bedrock. Over throughout the decades, the use of hydraulic fracturing to gather oil and gas around the world accumulated. Some people say hydraulic fracturing will beneficially affect people all around the US while others think hydraulic fracturing will defectively affect people all around the US. Hydraulic fracturing is dangerous to the environment, requires a vast amount of water, and

Read More
1699 Words | 7 Pages

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).

Read More
858 Words | 4 Pages

Fracking: A Crime against Humanity As a law abiding citizen, I cannot conceive or be an advocate of fracking, without questioning its impact on Earth’s layers; and its role in the increment of frequency of earthquakes, contamination of water, and the related human health hazards. While fracking is helping the U.S. to extract shale gas, which is basically trapped between fine sedimentary rocks, the liabilities are overwhelming. In the field of fossil fuel, these rocks are well-known as stale and its exploitation is supporting American’s population, in obtaining the most needed fossil fuel. Deplorably, the risks seem unbeatable.

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
943 Words | 4 Pages

People complain about pollution from factories, cars, global warming, and the melting of polar ice caps, yet many people disregard the dangerous that come with fracking. Fracking is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, and/or boreholes to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. Fracking is causing an epidemic economically and environmentally. Fracking is continuously destroying the earth day by day. From the endless fracking today’s economy is depleting.

Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracturing

Related Topics

Open Document