Kyle Quintana
Candace Craig
English 121
6 May 2015
The Impact of Fracking
When it comes to vast amounts of energy sources, natural gas in America is not something most people believe is plentiful. As resources are used up it then becomes time to look for a new supply elsewhere. America has always been dependent on foreign trade, including fuels, which in turn leaves us vulnerable to steep prices.
Natural gas is one very important fossil fuel and from its various uses, its numbers have continued to dwindle. Supply and demand has taken a toll on this very precious commodity. Ordinary vertical drilling of natural gas has ceased to produce much and this once prevalent method may eventually end up becoming obsolete. In the 1990’s a different method that was being used, but wasn’t common, caught some attention and is called horizontal hydraulic fracturing or fracking for short. Since the method of fracking was first used in 1940, it has gradually changed and is now combined with a new strategy of drilling horizontally. This new way of drilling helps to reach vast amounts of previously inaccessible gases and oils that are stuck in shale. According to oil industries Devon energy, Chesapeake, and Halliburton’s estimates, around 827 million cubic feet of untapped gases and oils are under the U. S. but may not be as easily accessible as once thought (Mooney 80-85).
The method of fracking involves the use of large amounts of water in conjunction with various chemicals and sand that
Oil and natural gas companies have developed a way to drill for natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture consisting of methane and several other hydrocarbons that occur naturally underground. Natural gas is used as fuel for heating, cooking, and even in some automobiles like the “RideOn” buses. This technique has only recently become economically feasible with the rising prices of fossil fuels, and there is much potential for recovering natural gas through fracking. However, fracking has many waste products and unusual side effects caused by the unnatural forces and materials used. Fracking has a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment through
For more than sixty years, oil and gas companies have been fracturing shale rock far below the earth’s surface in order to release pockets of natural gas. The extraction of shale gas from wells dates back to 1821; but the revolutionary procedure of hydraulic fracturing—injecting pressurized fluid into shale rock to create fissures—was commercialized in the 1950s. New drilling techniques, created in the 1970s, reach previously inaccessible shale gas by allowing the use of horizontal piping within the wells. While the United States is currently dependent on foreign countries for natural resources, a hope for independence has led companies to further explore hydraulic fracturing, redefining the way that natural resources are
“Hydrofracking refers to hydraulic fracking, a technique in which large amounts of water, combined with smaller amounts of chemicals and sand, are pumped under high pressure into a drilled gas well.” (Curtis 2011) Once the mixture of chemicals, sand, and water enter the well, they start to fracture the rock and create small cracks. The sand then fills in the rock cracks and allows the trapped gas to move freely and exit the well. Hyrdofracking is used because large amounts of natural gas are stuck under ground in dense layers of shale rock. The only way to break that gas free and retrieve it is through high pressure drilling. The most common area
Fracking can extract a large amount of resources compared to other methods of exploitation that we used before. Since 2013, production of natural gases in the United States has been climbing rapidly, especially in shale gas. Shale gas has driven U.S production to a record level. In 2010, it is recorded that 1 million of barrels of oil per day are produced. But in 2013, the year with booming application of fracking, the generated barrels of oil per day were tripled, approximating 3 million daily. It could be deduced that more drilling rigs had been installed during the 3-year interval. However, the increase in the number of rigs was not enough in explaining the leap in production of resources. It was the new technique, fracking, that expanded the oil and gas industry in the US. In addition, fracking might be a temporary method to solve the problem of soaring demand for energy. Depletion of resources is posting a great concern for many countries, including the US. Massive U.S industry nowadays is having a huge demand of energy. By using the modern Fracking techniques, oil and gas producers are now able to exploit resources from hard-rock formations deeply under the ground, which they could not do previously. This solidify our hope that by using Fracking, the energy industry of the U.S is no longer suffer from the lack of
In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans. The efficiently burning shale gas reduces carbon
There is wide agreement among experts and the public that the current energy sources we use in the United States are in need of a replacement. The successful development of horizontal drilling by the energy industry coupled with the existing technology of hydraulic fracturing is now providing access to 100 years’ worth of energy in the form of natural gas located within our own borders, thousands of feet below the surface. Fracking is a fairly new method of extracting natural gas and has been very beneficial to our energy needs. The question is not how fracking has helped our goals for cleaner energy, but how fracking has affected our environment, our health and our water.
Since the 19th century, natural gas has been able to be extracted from deposits that are shallow (Schmidt 2013). Just recently, horizontal fracking has become a cost effective option to collect natural gas in shale deposits. This development has caused a boom in the fracking industry. In fact, “in 2010 shale gas contributed 23% of domestic natural gas production, compared with 2% in 2000” (Schmidt 2013). Horizontal fracking involves pumping a mixture of water and chemicals deep underground in order to fracture shale, thus releasing natural gas trapped therein.
Imagine an economy in the United States if we were an oil exporting country, like those in the Middle East. The States falls victim to those countries because we do not export quite as much as they do. This problem could potentially be solved by upping the amount of oil and gas fracking. Then, that now unused oil can be sent out to other countries, turning a profit here. Although many people believe that it is harmful to the environment, and bad for the public around it. The largest being that it will contaminate the underground water supply. Despite this, many people can agree that it is overall beneficial. Hydraulic fracturing is essential to the United States, because it creates jobs, it generates income, it could potentially turn the economy around, and it is crucial to our energy production as a whole.
While it is true “fracking”, a procedure to obtain natural gas removal from shale formations, it is also true there have been infrastructure security issues associated with this practice. Furthermore, there have been ecological considerations from fracking brought to the forefront by countless environmentalists. Indeed, hydraulic fracturing, as it is referred to, is a process by which shale gas and oil is uprooted from a depth far below the earth’s exterior. The process of extracting shale gas and oil is employed aggressively while water is forced deep beneath the earth surface through a geological arrangement. From this arrangement, oil and gas is exerted back to the earth’s surface. Moreover, once the hydraulic fracturing process is
First let me explain what this process involves and how it works. Fracking involves using a 99.5% sand, water, and special chemical additive to help bore through rock to release the natural gas so it can be harvested (Loki (2015)). It is this
Fracking is becoming increasingly prevalent in today's society as a means to extract an increasingly rare resource from our environment. Despite the many arguments made in its favor by oil companies and supporters of such company’s hydraulic fracturing or fracking is harmful to people, the environment, and should be prohibited. In this paper the reasons given for fracking being beneficial are untrue. Explanations why the harm done by fracking outweighs the good will be given. There will be evidence shown for the damage hydraulic fracturing does to people and the environment.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, has been around since the 1940’s. This is the act of injecting fluid into rocks or rock formations underground that will ultimately release natural gasses and oils. In the U.S. there are over 500,000 natural gas wells. On top of the already existing wells, many states across the country are rescinding their ban on fracking. This is one of the more debated topics when it comes to alternative energy. There is a big split on this issue and it is understandable. There are many pros but there are also many cons to come along with it.
Fracking can be described as the process used to remove natural gas located beneath the ground. In order to successfully acquire the valuable gas that can replace other sources of energy; water, sand, and unknown chemicals are sent under the ground through a pipe. The purpose is to create enough pressure with this toxic solution to make the gas come back into the surface. When it comes to fracking there are two major statements, one on favor and one against it. Researchers that are against fracking have long assume that the negative consequences are greater than the benefits. For instance, one eminent environmentalist named Michael Brune expresses his concern regarding the toxic waste that fracking involves. The corrosive solution required in fracking uses unknown chemicals that
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Global poverty and world hunger are two of the most studied and debated subjects in the field of economics. Experts such as Jeffery Sachs and William Easterly have researched every aspect of poverty, and come to two differing views on causes and solutions for continued poverty in an age of abundance. Research has presented many alarming conclusions about poverty and hunger such as “One billion people are suffering from hunger”. People are thought to be poor, starving, and helpless in these poverty ridden areas, but is that actually the case? This article will explore information about how the poor really spend their dollars and if they have the ability to buy food. Looking around the world there are lessons to be learned about how poverty works and if the alarming facts from experts are credible.