Fracking : The Shale Formation

Fracking explained: opportunity or danger. YouTube. N.p., 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. .

How do you feel about drinking chemically polluted water? Hydraulic Fracturing, or "Fracking", is the process of obtaining natural gas by drilling and injecting liquid into the ground to break shale rocks.This method is not only environmentally unsafe, but the cost of drilling is extremely high and the required workforce causes housing shortages in the areas being drilled. Cleaner, less costly forms of obtaining energy are available, such as ethanol or electric vehicles. Fracking is not the best way to obtain our energy. Citizens of the United States must cease their support of the drilling method known as Fracking.

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

California faces an imminent danger from Big Oil. Big Oil wants to use millions of gallons of water and frack oil from Sacramento, my hometown, to Los Angeles. Fracking, also known as Hydraulic Fracturing, is a method of obtaining natural gas by drilling a hole into the ground and than injecting “water, sand, and a proprietary mix of chemicals into the shale fracturing the rock and releasing the natural gas, which is captured when it flows up and out of the hole (Mitka).” In the process millions of gallons of water are polluted and large amounts of air pollutants are released into the atmosphere. The ramifications on human health as a result of fracking is what causes most to worry. In the next four decades, fracking possesses dangers that directly affect human and animal health, the land, and our ecosystems.

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

Protagonists concur that the process of fracking is commonly short-lived, and after it is completed, oil and gas production have the ability to last up to 40 years. Once the process is completed, the site on which hydraulic fracturing is conducted on is restored and refurbished to its former state, and its environmental advantages, such as lowering greenhouse gas emissions and condensing air, persist for decades (“What Is Shale Gas?” 2). Shale gas, which is a natural gas extracted from shale, is obtained through fracking as well (“What Is Shale Gas?” 1). The EIA reports that over 750 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas and 24 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil resources in discovered shale plays (“What Is Shale Gas?” 1). The key to developing these key resources, which fuel our economy and provide employment opportunity, is through fracking. When skeptical citizens and authority express concern over fracking, protagonists assure their challengers that fracking will always be done responsibly, and they will continue to develop

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.

The practice of Hydraulic fracturing, or releasing a mixture of water, sand, and various chemicals into wells dug beneath the earth to unlock its natural gas has become a very controversial issue (Earthworks ). For some, the practice means new forms of energy in the U.S. and thousands of new jobs. While others have pointed to the connections between the release of chemicals into the environment and the contamination of water supplies. Other studies have linked this new technology to air pollutants and an increase in earthquakes due to disturbances in the earth’s shell. All of these issues and concerns point to a need for further regulations to diminish these negative effects on the environment.

Fracking has actually changed out future as we know it, and has made it possible for many things. Fracking will make the world run on natural fossil fuels for much longer, which is also better for the environment and us. In 2015, the U.S. reached its all time high in oil production in 14 years and is only expected to continually rise. Oil production in the U.S. is one of the main sources of jobs for people living in the U.S. (Nunez, 2013). Fracking is a good way to employ U.S. citizens and is also a good way to get natural ways of oil production. As we all

“Fracking ensures that the age of oil-and it 's princely hydrocarbon cousin, the natural gas molecule-will not end because we have run out of fossil fuels. But it may end because burning these wonderful fuels puts the planet farther down a path we don 't want to head down”. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a petroleum mining method to reach remote gas under water that is located in the crust of the earth. Fracking uses a blend of water, sand, and chemicals. Hydraulic Fracturing, “has contributed to a resurgence of oil production in the USA and a dramatic increase in natural gas production” (Hassett). It is speculated to grow and eventually become fifty percent of the natural gas used in our lives today. It is understood that transferring to the use of these natural gasses would be better for the dwindling supply of oil but people are looking over the repercussions of a more common and more frequent fracking. Much of the effects are unknown due to the short past of major fracking in the United States. From the minor, in comparison to the future plans, fracking in places such as Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Texas, Kansas Mississippi, and many others have dozens of incidents. Incidents that range from poisoned drinking water, industrial disasters, explosions, polluted air, and mysterious animal deaths. Fracking is something that if grown can cause disasters of monumental scales. The temporary benefits do not outweigh the costs that people and the

Fracking is a practice done by natural gas companies to obtain gas. The explanation of fracking in Hydraulic Fracturing: A Critical Physical Geography Review, is summarized as “Shale gas development combines two long-established but rapidly advancing technologies: hydraulic fracturing, in which millions of gallons of water treated with chemical additives and sand are injected into subsurface formations at high pressure to break up the rock so that trapped oil and gas can flow, and horizontal drilling, in which the well bore can be pivoted horizontally to follow the contours of oil and gas producing layers of rock. Together, these two technologies allow energy companies to exploit gas and oil formations that were previously uneconomical to tap, catalyzing both large upward revisions in oil and gas reserves estimates, and a dramatic shift in the geographical distribution of energy production in the US.” The controversial part of this process is where chemical additives and sand are injected into the ground, and because of this there are a very black white stance on the topic. Most of the rhetoric used is either pro or anti-fracking. The anti-fracking movement claims that this process is hurting the environment and contaminating water supplies around the United States. While the fracking movement sees it as a clean, new way to get natural gas from within the U.S. Like anything there is trade offs for doing it, on one side we needed natural gas to power the American people’s lifestyle and on the other we need to protect the environment because we do not yet know the effects of fracking. The narrative used on both sides are highly

Fracking is also referred as hydraulic fracturing in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid to further create cracks and openings underground to extract more free flowing components such as natural gas, petroleum, and brine. Millions of ‘frac’ jobs have been performed on oil and gas wells worldwide to further extract more shale gas, tight gas, tight oil and coral seam gas. This highly controversial issue of greed and depletion of deeply bounded fossil fuels is extremely important. The argumentative basis of this matter is between those whom benefit and have more readily available accessible hydrocarbons and the people who are aware of the potential hazardous environmental effects. Hydraulic fracturing greatly threatens the risk of ground and surface water contamination, air pollution, noise pollution, and the consequential triggering of earth quakes and hazardous long-term effects that are unknown. This is highly controversial considering the industry that is already in power of fossil fuel extraction is highly powerful and ran by both government powers and mass corporate powers with much control on those who regulate. I am on the opposing side of the fossil greedy powerful organizations who push for fracking and believe that there are surely alternative solutions. I am personally interested in the issue of fracking because I know how important and vital clean ground and surface water are for human survival and also because I am terrified of the technology mankind has came to power over that in which threatens and potentially could trigger disasters that we have no control over such as earthquakes and sinking of the land. There are many issues amongst my major that I cold have focused on but I believe in this current day the largest problems surround the ever so greedy and extreme measures mankind will take to have power over natural resources,

Shale extraction has brought both economic growth and environmental destruction. The current United States shale gas thriving in the opinion of advocates has begun a new age of low-priced, clean domestic energy and widespread economic benefits. However, there have been strong calls to assess the public health impact; associated risks to human health and safety, the ecological impact; habitat fragmentation and toxic emissions (to air, water and soil), the socioeconomic wellbeing of impacted communities, as well as the overall effects on global climate.

Hydraulic fracking like burning coal and oil allow us to carry out our daily functions by providing energy to fuel our modern day cars, cell phones, televisions, and just about anything and everything we depend on. However, hydraulic fracking has been found to be more detrimental to human health, the environment, and economy. With this, fracking is a common practice that has become misconceptualized to be a cleaner alternative to oil and coal, but we must not undermine its potential effects.

Throughout the last six or five years, America was introduced to a new invention called Fracking, which is to help access oil and gas through a technical machine. Due to some concerns, it has been difficult to have a median between its risks and benefits. Those who oppose it are concerned with what will happen to the environment and if their fresh water can be at risk for contamination. Those who are for fracking probably are not too concerned for the environment and must receive some good profit from it. In order to understand why fracking has become a very controversial topic, I have to go through some true research to understand the public 's and businesses point of view.