Hydraulic Fracturing Research Paper

Hydraulic Fracturing or fracking has gained a lot of media attention in recent years with a Hollywood movie, “Promise Land”, focusing on the issue. One place where fracking has come up is in New Brunswick, where there is a large shale reservoir. In New Brunswick, as in other areas of North America where fracking is possible, there is heated debate on whether the investment would be made in this industry. One perspective is that of shale gas industry which promotes fracking as a method to collect shale gas. On the other side of the debate are environmental groups, who point to the harm fracking can cause to the environment.

Fracking is the process of pumping different liquids into the ground at high pressure to create fractures, cracks, and fissures in the rock so oil or gas can be extracted. The companies involved in the fracking industry are forced to stop extracting gas. This is because there has been a moratorium placed on Hydraulic Fracturing until further notice. A moratorium is a temporary prohibition of an activity. This means that companies that depend their earnings solely on fracking are failing. The industry is declining which is a cause for fracking companies to start closing their offices.

People who have invested in are not very happy; they have started

One reason is fracking increases the risk that groundwater can be polluted. This creates a problem due to the fact that the clean groundwater has more important uses than being polluted to extract shale gas. With methane emissions, environmentalists doubt that shale gas is a better alternative to harmful fossil fuels. Another argument presented by the environmentalists is that the fossil fuel industry is declining; investing in a company that will not succeed is pointless. They think that shale fracking is not going to be very successful because the industry is moving towards renewable energy