Fracking : An Unconventional Technique For Harvesting Natural Gas And Oil

For the past twenty to thirty years, hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, has been the number one source of natural gas, oil, and energy in the United States. The process of fracking is that a well is built above the ground and then a drill digs several thousand feet deep into the ground to extract the oil and natural gas that is trapped inside of rock formations. Fracking is very controversial because of the cost of the process and the environmental “threats” that it poses. From methane emissions to earthquakes, fracking has been accused to be linked with several environmental issues. To prevent any environmental dangers, states place regulations and boundaries that energy companies have to follow in order to build a well and keep it up and running. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) also works with states to help regulate these wells. More importantly, fracking in the United States is very important and acts as a bridge to the future. While it may be argued that hydraulic fracturing is not beneficial to the economy and harmful to the environment, fracking in the United States should not be banned because fracking is not only imperative to the growth of jobs and the economy, but it also does not put the surrounding environment in danger.

In recent years, the subject of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking has been a constant subject of interest in the news media. The pros and cons of fracking are passionately debated. However, the public should become educated on the subject of fracking prior to choosing a side of the argument. In the scholarly article, “Super Fracking,” published in 2014, by Donald L. Trucotte, Eldridge M. Moores, and John B. Rundle, a detailed description of fracking is provided, followed by their analysis of current issues surrounding the controversy. According to Trucotte, Moores, and Rundle, fracking saves the consumer money. The wellhead cost to produce natural gas in January of 2000 was two dollars and sixty cents per one thousand cubic feet. At an alarming rate, the cost at the wellhead to produce natural gas had risen to eight dollars per one thousand cubic feet by January of 2006. Comfortingly, the wellhead cost dropped to two dollars and eighty-nine cents by the end of 2012. Impressively, gas production increase and price decrease over the time period are a result of fracking. In their article, Trucotte, Moores, and Rundle describe in great detail that hydraulic fracturing, most commonly referred to as fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth to fracture the layers of rock so that a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the oil or natural gas inside. This method of fracking has been used commercially for the last fifty years.

“Fracking” isn’t a word that most people are familiar with unless they are well informed or active in local government or natural gas extraction. “Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves extracting natural gas from shale formations underground” (Collier, Galatas, Harrelson-Stephens, 2008). During the process known as fracking, millions of gallons of water are shot underground into shale formations to help bring the natural gas trapped inside the formations to be released so that it can surface and become available for extraction. This is the technique that is used for traditional fracking methods. Although fracking increases the states natural gas production, it also carries some negative side effects that are affecting the state and its people.

Fracking has become a highly controversial and publicized topic in recent years due to rising concerns into the potential benefits and consequences of using hydraulic fracturing to retrieve natural gas and oil reserves. With concerns over water pollution, mismanagement of toxic waste and irreversible environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has

“Fracking is the process of obtaining Natural Gas from below Earth’s surface by drilling 1000’s of feet 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.” (Jackson). Hydraulic Fracturing got its name due to the fact of how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture of a number of chemicals, sand, and water. Drilling companies first began Fracking in the early 1940’s, and starting in the 1990’s companies began “safer drilling” due to the amount of concerns that had arisen because early drillers had to detonate small explosions that eventually ended up killing many people. Fracking has been used for nearly 60 years and the number of concerns about it are rising every day. Due to the new technological advancements in drilling Fracking has changed greatly over the years. Before, the drilling would go on for weeks on end in order to extract only a small amount of natural gas. Now, due to the invention of higher powered drills, the drills get double the amount then they used to be able to get in more then half the time. Over 95,000 square miles of shale deposits have been found around the Appalachian Basin but the only way to reach these deposits of shale is through fracking. “Fracking is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock by drilling

To environmental advocates and opponents of fracking, the process is more than dollars and cents. On a rudimentary level, the oil and natural gas produced via hydraulic fracturing are fossil fuels, and thus harmful to the environment in comparison to renewable, clean sources of energy such as solar and wind power. These renewable energy fields are likewise capable of bolstering American energy production and independence and creating high paying careers. Moreover, research suggests that fracking practices could cause serious methane leaks, canceling out the supposed reduction in greenhouse gas

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a drilling method used for extracting oil or natural gas from deep underground. Fracking is a problem that not many see as controversial. Each human being depends on daily energy, as long as they see the cost for use of energy is cheap they won't question the actual effects it may present to the environment. The energy sources can be mined or pumped from locations worldwide. Each technique for extraction of the resource is having serious impacts on wildlife. Even worse is that fracking can have a serious impact on our water supply. Large amounts of gas now is available due to high use amount of fracking. Though fracking is used worldwide to extract gas and oil, a fracking boom has occurred

Fracking refers to the process of drilling into the earth, which is commonly referred to as hydraulic fracturing. This injection of water, sand, and chemicals especially in shale deposits releases oil or gas that has been trapped for many years that was initiated many years ago for the purpose of oil and gas extraction from the earth (Anderson and Bosselmann, 2013). The process can be carried out both vertically or horizontally such that it creates new pathways or extend already existing ones. The process causes a lot of controversy and at the same time, it acts as a potential key that will someday in the future unlock greater sources of energy (Bamberger and Oswald, 2014). This research therefore seeks to look at the positive aspects of the

The global crisis surrounding energy needs grows in severity as time goes by and in order to solve it, scientists have created the innovative solution known as hydraulic fracturing (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a process that injects water, chemicals, sand, and other materials into layers of shale. The injected mixture cracks the layers of shale, releasing trapped natural gasses that can be collected (Source 1). Fracking occurs deep under the surface of the earth, miles below the groundwater that is accessed from drinking-water wells. In the mid-2000s, “fuel prices were rising rapidly” (Source 5). Hydraulic fracturing was a cheap solution that not only brought the world out of a state of emergency but made oil prices drop. The new method of gas collection grew the oil and gas industry, benefiting people all around the world. Fracking is a cheap, effective solution to global needs, but is under attack from skeptics who worry about environmental hazards. The claims against fracking not only have no real evidence but also risk destroying the jobs in the oil and gas industry as well as support for energy needs. Hydraulic fracturing is not only a cheap but a safe method that supports global needs surrounding both energy and jobs.

A relatively new process for extracting desired shale oil from the bowels of the earth seems to be shaking things up around operation sites. Environmentalists and oil tycoons have been debating for years over the safety of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, since areas with a high concentration of fracking operations have been affected by several environmental problems. Though many scientists argue that correlation does not necessarily mean causation, the media and many environmentalists use these environmental problems around fracking sites as proof of the long term damage fracking causes. Although it has domesticated the oil industry and reduced usage of coal as a fuel source, fracking is undoubtedly related to many detrimental environmental impacts, such as water table pollution and increased seismic activity.

Fracking is a relatively new way of retrieving oil and natural gases from shale rock and other natural resources that reside in the earth’s core, using air and water together. Thus far it has been proven to be a quicker alternative to oil well drilling compared to conventional drilling methods. Oil and gas companies are still learning about the side effects of this elaborate process day by day. Despite a few side effects that have been discovered within the process, fracking has been very efficient and beneficial. As stated in, “Pros and Cons of Fracking: 5 Key Issues”, “Fracking saves lives, and it saves them right now and not at some indiscernible date well into the future”. (http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/05/pros-and-cons-of-fracking-5-key-issues/)

We could use plenty other sources, fracking gets oils, meant to burn, to get energy. We have plenty of other ways to get energy that if we put enough work into it we won't need fracking because we have all these other resources. We have wind, water, hydrogen, and sunlight, all these resources can be harvested to use for an energy source. Windmills, water turbines, hydrogen chambers, and solar panels are all ways we can harvest these renewable resources. We should use these resources because it is a cheaper, more efficient, and environmentally safe way to get power and energy. If there was a better way to get energy, it would be through these renewable resources. Fracking is an unneeded resource, we have plenty other energy sources, we don't

In the past few decades America’s energy consumption has risen significantly, the majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels like natural gas, and coal, however recently there has been a lot of publicity around a relatively new method of obtaining natural gas called Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking has grown since the 1940s in America, natural gas prices are continuing to rise, as a result of its depleting number of natural resources (Heinberg). Therefore more complex, and expensive methods like fracking have become more popular, and cost-effective (Sanders). Fracking has already been used in the USA more than one million times, in fact more than 60% of gas wells in the United States are used for fracking (white). Fracking

A growing concern with meeting future resource demands has made energy a pivotal commodity in today’s global economy. The introduction of; methods that conserve exhaustible resources, as well as, the use of renewable resources, have sought to solve the impending energy crisis. In recent years, one technological advancement that has been beneficial in the search for an alternative a renewable energy source is, Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a method of drilling; which injects fluids; such as water and toxic chemicals; into wells deep underground, to extract oil and gas resources. Fracking allows for the obtainment of oil and natural gas from sources that would be otherwise inaccessible. However, the use of Hydraulic fracturing has been known to have adverse environmental impacts, making it a controversial topic in the United States.

Once that unconventional gas and oil extraction (fracking) has becoming widespread practice and a concern in some countries, particularly in the United States of America (USA), relatively about potential environmental risks and human health outcome, as well as potential routes of human vulnerability, has been the focus of several studies by social researchers, health and environmental scientists, and epidemiologists. This essay will present and analyse the challenges imposed by hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and shale gas, particularly related with environmental and health issues.