The Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracturing

In this discussion we will be going over the importance and the controversial aspects of hydraulic fracturing. Many people are on either side of the spectrum in supporting or not supporting hydraulic fracturing, and some people have not developed their own opinion. Hopefully this brief will provide information from both sides of the spectrum and give an un biased representation of the economic importance and the environmental problems that can occur during the fracking process, so that a better understanding of fracking can be brought to those who are unsure of their stance on the issue. A quick definition is as follows, hydraulic fracturing is a form of oil and natural gas mining that pumps fluid into shales to break them apart creating space

When more and more wells and being drilled the need for workers increase. The jobs range from the ones actually drilling and monitoring the well to those driving the trucks with water or the oil and gas pulled from the wells. They have to employ companies to consult with on where to drill. The companies that build pipelines to move and transport the oil and gas get work and depending on the extent of the job they might hire additional help. As well as having advantages hydraulic fracturing has some possible negative impacts on the environment. The largest and most talked about problem with fracking is the pollution related to the waste water. The water that is pumped into the subsurface is comprised approximately of 90% water, 9% sand which is made up of naturally occurring sand grains, coated sand grains and high-strength ceramic materials. Another small percentage is made up of additives that serve various purposes. Not all of the wells use the same additives (Chen, Al-Wadei, Kennedy and Terry 2014,

The gathering of the immense natural resource that is natural gas is important to the continued use of fossil fuels as energy. At the current moment in time fracking is the best way to go about obtaining the gas. There have been numerous jobs (1.4 million) that have been created due to the start and continuing of hydraulic fracturing. I also understand that there are environmental risks to hydraulic fracturing. Pollution is always an issue with the mining of fossil fuels. That can be reduced through the enforcement of regulations that the fracking companies would have to adhere to. For those who disagree and would rather have clean and green sources of energy, think of hydraulic fracturing and the use of natural gas as an option for energy to buy us time to make a plan until better technology is created for clean