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.
Scientific Report Chathuri Amarasinghe 11.01.16 Can fracking cause earthquakes? The truth behind fracking Fracking has been around since the 19th Century, however, the demand to extract oil and gas is becoming more commercial. Oil and gas is being exploration has been innovated in every possible space, quite literally; by the process of fracking.
Fracking, it's a term you've probably heard before, referencing a highly controversial method of natural gas extraction that causes immense pollution and should be stopped as soon as the means are available. What is fracking? " Many sandstones, limestones and shales far below ground contain natural gas, which was formed as dead organisms in the rock decomposed. This gas is released, and can be captured at the surface for our use, when the rocks in which it is trapped are drilled" (Meyendorf 1). Basically, rocks deep underground (specifically shale, sandstone and limestone) contain gas that can be burned for energy.
Retrieving gas that is hidden thousands of feet in the ground, in rock formations called shale, has led to a very controversial retrieval method called fracking. This gas is called natural gas, and it consists of 70-90% methane, and 0-20% of ethane, butane, and propane. Natural gas can be used to replace petroleum and coal in many aspects of our daily lives, such as heating our homes, powering manufacturing, creating electricity, and even powering cars and buses. The process of retrieving this natural gas, hydraulic fracturing, is done by: drilling thousands of feet below the surface, past the ground water, then a steel casing is inserted so the chemicals don’t leak into the ground, then a specialized drill starts drilling horizontally into
Humans value electricity, we need it for everything from banking to cleaning even doing our homework. Until very recently we relied primarily on coal fired power plants (some places use nuclear and hydroelectric plants), more recently we have moved to cleaner fuel sources like methane. Methane burns cleaner and has little to no hazardous off gassing, the problem lies with how methane is mined. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.
Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in Maryland has been banned but was it ever given a chance? Fracking is a common form of drilling for oil and gas, but this form is not practiced in Maryland due to it being banned by state law. Fracking is conducted by shooting water, sand, and chemicals under extremely high pressure, down an oil well to crack apart the rock and release trapped oil and gas. The downfall to this method is that the water has to go somewhere, and it could it end up in drinking water causing the water to become polluted and potently “poisoned”. Governor Hogan signed Maryland’s fracking ban into law on April 4, 2017.
Fracking is the hydraulic fracturing of the Earth. A giant drill bit is drilled down into the Earth before a high pressure water mixture is directed onto the Earth’s sediment. When the Earth’s rock is drilled away at natural gas is released. When the drill is drilling water, sand, and chemicals are injected into Earth at high pressures. This will allow the gas in the Earth to flow out.
Fracking, in short terms, is the way that energy companies extract oil and gas from the Earth. Companies prefer fracking, because fracking is the easiest and most cost-efficient way to extract oil and gas from the Earth. The Lansing State Journal reports that “Michigan started fracking in the 1960s, and by far the state has done a great job at making sure the process does not hurt the residents of the state or their property (“Exposing Myths…” par.18).” Michigan has done a great job so far making sure all the regulations concerning hydraulic fracturing are followed, but who’s to say that the energy companies will continue to follow
Introduction News outlets often use cherry-picked scientific findings as a way to grant credibility to the information they are ‘reporting’, thus making it confusing to the viewer on whether the information is politically motivated or unbiased. Scientists have an invisible halo atop them in mainstream media, and they are frequently cited in regards to important policies that have significant ramifications. It’s common for media outlets and politicians to take research conducted by scientists and display it as a fact without proper context with the intention of misleading, additionally companies also regularly hire ‘scientists’ to justify that it meets proper regulations. A contemporary example of this is the manner in which hydraulic fracturing
Coal and petroleum make up the majority of these fossil fuels. As they are formed by the long process of compression and heating of respectively flora and fauna after burrial, it is easy to see they are a limited resource. They do not reproduce at the rate we are consuming them - and they won't for many millions of years to come. On the other hand, renewable energy is sadly an expensive alternative, and
I wrote this essay to stress the dangers of the process of fracking, but also to highlight why fracking could be beneficial to certain companies. Fracking causes lots of controversy across the nation. Raising awareness of the dangers of fracking is very important, and by learning about the process I am convinced we should do everything in our power to stop fracking and look for alternative eco-friendly resources. The many articles I read to research this important topic helped me gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of fracking. I read articles written in Science magazines with authors convinced through their research that fracking is detrimental to mankind and the environment, with research showing toxic chemical levels in the
Secondly, one of the biggest concerns with fracking is air pollution. Although many who are pro fracking say that it does help the environment since fracking actually provide a variety of different alternatives for the use of fossil fuels, which in return reduces carbon emissions. Backing up these claims Bjørn Lomborg, a fracking supporter and director if the environmental assessment institue says “Carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in 20 years,” (2). Though this may be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that fracking is safer for the environment. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Denver are claiming that natural gases such
Fracking within the state of New York has been cause for controversy in recent years. This fracking controversy has greatly polarized members of the communities affected with some show great support of it, and others downright despising it to the point of banning it in their communities. While fracking is quite a complex issue with many economic benefits, it’s still quite clear that the only rational stance on the issue is one of opposition. Any person who shares concerns on the future of this planet should maintain of firm opposition to fracking due to the negligence of the fracking companies harming the environment. In response to fracking supporter and Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarlla’s blatant dishonesty on the issue in his paraphrased
Everybody uses natural gas and oil, whether it is to power your house or make your car run there is gas being used somewhere. Unless there is a way for America to extract their own oil or natural gas their prices will always be high. Guess what, there is a way for America to extract natural gas and it is called Fracking! Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking is the way of extracting natural gas and oil from the ground, but at a price. It could harm the Earth by using up a lot of the water source that we have left on the planet, and it is trapping all of the heat on the planet by a thing called the greenhouse effect.
While the President Election is going on, there are many issues that are being asked to the candidates on how they plan to fix these issues. One of these issues that we are currently dealing with, is the environment, and Bernie Sanders is the candidate to actually plan to make a difference so that in the near future, we will no longer have to deal with these problems. Bernie Sanders strongly believes that the reason the environment is the way it is, is because of human activity. He stated, “If we do not act boldly the situation will only become much worse in years to come in terms of drought, floods, extreme storms and acidification of the oceans.” He plans on reducing the United States carbon emissions by forty percent over 1990 levels
