Fracking is a way to process natural gas extraction. Oil and gas companies do this. This method is a fairly new method of gas extraction. It is also known or referred to as hydro-fracking, or horizontal drilling. Piping must be first installed before any drilling can occur. Perfing is the second step to this process. Perfing is a perforating gun that is lowered by a wire line. Electrical current is sent down thousands of feet. The electrical current sets off a charge and it shoots small holes through cement. The way it works is desired depth is drilled vertically, then it is turned 90 degrees, and begins to drill horizontally. The drilling process is several thousand feet. The drilling is done until a shale that contains trapped natural gas is reached. In order for the shale to release this gas pumped at a high pressure a mixer of sand, water, and many other chemicals is mixed together and then pumped to brake the shale. After the shale has released the natural gases, it is drawn back up through the fissures to the surface. Once it reaches the surface it is processed and refined, and ready to be shipped to the market. Once the process is complete wastewater is returned to the surface as well. This new process is much more different than the traditional gas extraction method. Fracking goes much deeper than the traditional method. …show more content…
The air quality improves by using natural gas to generate electricity instead of coal. The use of natural gas reduces carbon dioxide emissions causing a decrease in air pollution. Some argue that since fracking allows us to obtain more oil, our dependency on foreign oil will decrease. Since our dependency should decrease other foreign countries will lower their tax rates. They will lower taxes because they know we are not dependent of them and their oil. And of course, fracking has a better return on investment than the traditional
deMause wrote, “Of the many troubling side effects of fracking-which run from the ground-water contamination to increased earthquake activity-one of the most worrisome is its impact on climate change” (549). The natural gas technique for extraction is the process of cracking open underground rock layers containing oil and gas deposits and blasting them open with a high pressure chemical slurry. The effects are negative causing water contamination with a possible impact on climate change because of the exploding
Fracking involves drilling a hole into the ground and injecting a combination of fluids and chemicals into the shale. The fracking fluid contains upwards of 600 different chemicals (David). The pressure of the fluid is what causes the shale to fracture, then releases natural gas. That fracking fluid is what is really dangerous, as this is what poses the biggest threat, since many of those chemicals are extremely dangerous and some are completely unknown by the public. After the fracking process is complete, the fracking water, known as flowback, which includes water, chemicals and additives, is either collected and transferred to holding-tanks or it is injected back into the ground for storage
SUMMARY Journalist, Nick Stockton, in the article, “Fracking’s Problems Go Deeper Than Water Pollution,” published in June 2015, addresses the topic of hydraulic fracturing and argues that fracking has more negative consequences than one might think. Stockton supports his claim first by appealing emotionally through a short summary of a recent event involving fracking and also by utilizing evidence to back up his statements. The author’s overall purpose is to highlight outcomes of fracking in order to make more people aware of issues that can arise from this common way of obtaining energy. Stockton utilizes a scientific, yet critical tone in order to create an unbiased article and appeal to his audience’s concern for the well being of the
Prior to watching Gasland 2 and Truthland, I am familiar with the term “fracking” but never took the time to look into it. After watching these two films, I realized how fracking is a controversial topic in the world of environmentalists. These two very different films explain how fracking is effecting the environment around us. Before explaining further into these films, we need to know what fracking really means. Fracking is “a process by which the rock is split so that natural gas can flow to the surface,” defined by Terry Engelder, a professor of geosciences at Penn State University.
Keystone Pipeline How would the Keystone Pipeline help the country through the U.S's economic strain? The Keystone pipeline could prove to play a major role in the survival of the United States. With tensions high in the Middle East and Russia; there is a need for another oil supply should the supply be depleted or withheld. The U.S imports nearly 80% of its oil from foreign countries. This means if these countries were to turn their backs on the U.S, the U.S would be left with 20% of our oil needs.
FRACKING AND ITS CRITICISM Since the mid-80s, The First Nations and their leaders have raised numerous concerns about the failure of the government and industries in Canada to properly consult them before developing any of their lands. Fracking is a technique used in stimulating the fracturing of rocks through the use of pressurized liquid. The fluid used comprises of hot water, sand, and proppants that are thickened using appropriate agents. The fluid enters the deep-rock and makes it possible to have natural gas, petroleum and brine flow up. If the pressure is removed, the grains in the proppants are capable of keeping the fractures while open.
"Hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil or gas by forcing fluids into the ground to fracture shale rocks, at the Eagle Ford Shale Play has produced more oil and natural gas but at the cost of environmental hazards and affect human health. The part of the process that creates the environmental hazards is the fracking fluids that are forced into the ground. For each fracking job, these fluids are comprised of 1 to 8 million gallons of water and 40,000 gallons of chemicals. Some of the 600 chemical carcinogens and toxins in the fracking fluids are lead, radium, uranium, mercury, methanol, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol, and formaldehyde. Once the fracking job is done, about 50 to 70 percent of fracking liquids are left in open
Keep in mind fracking has also caused earthquakes, pollution and health issues for humans, but in the early 1980s, there was so much natural gas that all gas prices were reduced. All of that natural gas came from hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
Some people believe that the environment isn 't being harmed by everyday production, but one can argue that as people move closer to fracking industries, people become exposed to harmful gases and chemicals. Fracking a destructive force, is it safe, is it reasonable, is it right? As Chris Hedges explains in his article “Death By Fracking”, he says, “There are more than 15 million Americans, many of them children, who live within a mile of a fracking site. Most are being exposed daily to a deadly brew of toxins. Because the oil and gas industry is not required under law to disclose the chemicals used in
Fracking has changed daily Oklahoman’s lives, from their property to their income. Fracking History In 1907, when the first oil well was drilled, which was before statehood, the abundance of oil seemed to draw everyone to Oklahoma, to make a small fortune in oil. Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was once dubbed the oil capital of the world, has a small structure still dedicated to its oil days, the Golden Driller, pictured below.
According to Climatecentral.org, “fracking for natural gas used to produce electricity may make Texas more drought resistant as the state shifts from coal power generation to natural gas power generation” (Magill). This could be a major breakthrough for Texas because not only would we produce electricity and save our environment, but we would also save millions of gallons of water. The amount of water we could save by shifting from coal to natural gas plants “is up to 50 times the amount of water lost in fracking to extract the natural gas from underground shale formations. According to the article, “The study’s authors estimate that for every gallon of water used to frack for natural gas, Texas saved 33 gallons of water by using that gas for electricity generation rather than producing the same amount of power with coal” (Magill).
Thesis statement The benefits of natural gas hydraulic fracking do not justify the adverse effects it causes through continuous earthquakes, pollution of the water table, or potential health hazards to human populations. This subject is interesting to me because I work for a natural gas company. I have had many conversations with other employees regarding natural gas fracking, and most of them are biased to the views of the drilling companies which means they do not see any harm in it. There also used to be companies fracking for natural gas in Arkansas on the Fayetteville Shell. The number of small earthquakes did rise (3.0 or smaller), but there was nothing resulting in a large amount of devastation.
In addition, there are more downsides to fracking than just water pollution, and that is the pollution of our environment. The condition of our environment is horrendous when fracking is conducted. To add on to that statement, fracking has caused natural gas leakage into the air, marred landscapes, and many more hazards to our environment. Fracking has already caused pollution to the air, and fracking companies have to remove trees, then that takes away more air from our environment. Trees are vital to Earth’s supply of oxygen, and these companies are just taking the air straight out of the lungs of the people.
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.
Therefore, fracking will not continue because of its bad reputation. Fracking companies should also list the chemicals used in fracking fluids so that the contamination in water can be reversed. Linda Dong from dangersoffracking.com clearly explains that the underground water that is contaminated is permanent damage. Without knowing the chemicals in fracking fluids, better alternatives to harmful chemicals cannot be found. However, the fracking fluid that is left underground damages the environment that we live in.