Renewable Energy: Fracking In Canada

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

The mismanagement of the practice has the potential to create environmental damage such as water contamination, radioactive spills, and increased seismic activity that could cost thousands in dollars in damage. Furthermore, the unintended consequences of fracking can have detrimental effects on the environmental. The potential for water contamination can pose both an immediate and long term risk to environmental stability, including landscape distortion, inhabitability and ecological displacement. This contamination of drinking water can also be detrimental to the human environment, limiting the amount of safe water available for both the residential and commercial human environment. With the increase of fracking, the level of disapproval for the practice has only mounted. Concerns including overconsumption of

Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is the process of removing oil and natural gas from in between layers of shale and other low-permeability rocks. This is done by drilling both a well and a horizontal tunnel. Sand and chemicals are shot through the tunnel with incredible pressure, which cracks the shale allowing the oil and natural gas to travel up the well (Jackson, 2014). Fracking has caused a breadth of controversy due to the economic benefits and the geological consequences.

“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

Sincewe can now use fracking to extract fossil fuels instead of relying on other countries for these resources, we can provide energy ourselves to other residents. There is an increase in the production of natural gas and there is an increase in the number of people employed in the production and delivery.Dangers of FrackingBurning fossil fuels causes air pollution, although burning gas causes less air pollution. There is water pollution, which is when large amounts of water that is full of dangerouschemicals is pumped into the ground and is supposed to be extracted after the process of fracking, but sometimes the water doesn’t rise up, and seeps into the ground and leaks into water ways such as lakes and rivers and pollutes them. The process of fracking can release chemicals into the air that may cause health problems. If we continue to rely on gas either than finding a new and better resource, we will still add to the amount of greenhouse gases which will be problematic in the future.Using Frackingin the FutureFracking is a good way of getting oil and gas, but whether we should use it in the future or not is debatable. It is a very good way to get these resources that are thousands of feet in the ground, but it also causes problems. I think it should be used in the future because it is an efficient way of getting these resources. EnergyGiven the advantages of nuclear power, do you think Canada should concentrate on

According to news article by Inside Climate News, titled “New Waterless Fracking Method Avoids Pollution Problems, but Drillers Slow to Embrace It”, this article gives a solution to fracking by explaining how waterless fracking can depend on a thick gel made from propane, the same gas used to light a barbecue grill. This article also mentions that unlike water used in fracking that propane used in this process disappears underground due to it turning into vapor. The use of propane in hydraulic fracturing has endless benefits on the environment. Nevertheless, the only issue I see is that one day propane will run out. I think there needs to be a renewable source to substitute for the chemicals and water that contaminate the environment. Using propane gas instead of water to release gas and oil is with a doubt more expensive. However, waterless fracking can be an easy switch because the chemical part of fracking really does not create much change. Because chemicals make up only about one percent of fracking fluid with this method will not bring about much change. Hydraulic fracturing uses powerful jets to send down the water to the drilling wells to increase the amount of oil and natural gas produced. Keep in mind water is not a renewable source, and it will run out one day, so why not

Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, is directly linked to having effects on the environment and the overall public health. The debate on whether or not fracking is too harsh on the environment has been going on ever since the United States has increased its use of this process to obtain more natural resources. Hydraulic fracturing is also directly correlated to having effects on drinking water. The process of fracking includes the injection of water containing other chemicals into the ground to extract natural resources that would otherwise be more difficult to obtain (Hydraulic Fracturing Overview, 2012). Although the process of fracking has resulted in an increase of natural resources, such as natural gas and oil, public health and environmental concerns have arisen. This topic has been the discussion of many people and whether or not there should be some form of government regulation in place, as it is nonexistent to this day. With that said, hydraulic fracturing in the United States has more negative effects on drinking water and the environment over time and should not be used as a means to obtain natural resources.

Stephen holditch of the department of petroleum engineering, Texas A&M University believe that hydraulic fracking does not cause pollution and has not contaminated any water in any known cases when fracking was used in wells; however there have been many cases of this and could cause a more serious problem if it continues. ‘The oil and natural gas industry support more than 2.1 million jobs according to IHS. Economics” (source 8). ‘Other policy experts say hydraulic fracturing could supply more than half of U.S. natural-gas production by 2030” (source 5). With this being said if we stop hydraulic fracturing we could have millions of people lose jobs and would have a great energy shortage. Though if Hydraulic fracturing continues, climate change could speed up, lots of ground water sources could be polluted and some of the ‘650 chemicals that can cause cancer” (source 3) could spread and there could be a cancer epidemic. Going back to loosing ground water sources, it was found that ‘scientist discovered methane in 115 out of 141 shallow drinking-water wells. It [was also] found the closer the water source was to the natural gas well, the more methane it contained.” (source 4) taking this information in there are also other ways to generate power such as solar farms and hydraulic

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a process the the oil and gas industry uses to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock formations buried deep within the Earth. Fracking is done in order to recover oil and natural gas from formations and areas that scientists didn’t think were possible to produce. It is also used for the extraction of oil and natural gas from older wells in more mature oil and natural gas fields. Many people don’t know about the many harmful effects to people and the environment because of fracking. Hydraulic fracturing is harmful to the environment and people because it contaminates drinking water, pollutes the air, and threatens the climate.

America has one of the highest energy consumption rates in the world. This demand has led to the popularization of the hydraulic fracturing industry. First introduced in the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing is method by which a well is drilled one to two miles below the Earth’s surface. The well then injects water and chemicals in the Earth that create fractures through which gas can flow through. Hydraulic fracturing, which is also known as fracking, became popular because of horizontal drilling in fracking is more efficient at extracting gas. As a result, a fracking boom ensued in which over a million wells were drilled in the United States in the past decade. However,

It is true that these "vast deposits of natural gas" are "large enough to supply the country for decades" and allow the United States not to be as dependent upon foreign sources of energy (Gas drilling: The story so far, 2013, Pro Publica). However, "scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface" (What is hydraulic fracking, 2013, Pro Publica). In 2008, an EPA study stated that the practice posed no danger to drinking water (Kelly 2012). However, since

These environmental and social harms develop because the oil and gas industries and the Native nations' governments externalize costs of environmental and social protections onto the public in order to reap the benefits of saved costs” all the harm to our water is real and only we the consumers can stop it..The U.S is a high user of fracking methods as it is the cheaper version to achieve natural gas . According to Shale gas and fracking: The Science Behind the Controversy, that number almost doubled to 510,000, by 2010. Each year about 13,000 new wells are drilled near safe drinking water and a study released in 2011 by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency that some drinking water that comes up from shallow wells near hydrofracking drilling sites in Pennsylvania had about 17 times as methane as those far away from drilling. Imagine the danger that this water can cause to people, one always thinks that natural water is good for use and that the government will not let companies contaminate our limited water

As the earth progresses and becomes older, life can be hard to sustain when technology becomes more advanced and fossil fuels are being burned rapidly. New methods are being created to support the continuous demand for energy, but some methods are harming the planet rather than creating new opportunities. Hydraulic fracturing has done more harm than good for the Earth by creating unprecedented earthquakes and also contaminating water.

Hydraulic fracturing, also referred to as fracking, remains a very controversial issue in the world today. Fracking, a widely debated technological innovation, involves drilling deep down into the Earth’s surface to obtain natural gas (Shuckman 1). Natural gas, a flammable substance produced deep within the Earth’s surface and exploited as fuel, is obtained by pumping water, sand and chemicals into open passages, which allows the natural gases to move into production wells (Shuckman 1). Hydraulic fracturing enables necessities such as heating, cooking and electricity for Americans; however, oppositionists claim that it harms the environment and the United State’s residents.

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.