Shale And The Shale Gas Boom

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that plays a critical role in the demand and supply of energy in the United States. It is considered to be a clean burning transition fuel. Compared to coal and oil, natural gas combustion does not generate as much pollution and is therefore considered an ideal partner for renewable energy resources. Natural gas is extracted from shale formations underground that require horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – “hydrofracking” or “fracking”. This drilling and extraction method is currently considered a global widespread issue due to the rapid increase in the amount of new gas wells that threatens the quality of water around the source (Entriken, Evans-White, Johnson & Hagenbuch, 2011).

The Marcellus Shale rock formation harbors the largest natural gas reserve that runs from New York to Tennessee. (Federman 2010 p.35) The only way to extract the natural gas is to use the process of hydrofracking. The process of hydrofracking uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to drill and fracture the Marcellus Shale to extract the natural gas. Clean water is used from local aquifers to produce the water mixture called “slurry” which is made up of 99% clean water (Rush 2010 p.28). The slurry additives are described in the journal article “In the Wake of the Shale Revolution: A Primer on Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemical Disclosure” as, 3

Given fracking’s youth and considering its only significant sites are in the US, research is largely confined on the Marcellus region which runs across two-thirds of Pennsylvania and extends into other states (MSTEC 2011) or the Barnet region in Texas.

There is a lot of controversy over the new practice of getting to fresh natural gas stored in the shale under our feet. The process has been named hydraulic fracturing, and as you can imagine, it involves water (hydro) and breaking stuff (fracking). The results that many people have been experiencing close to where this technique is used seem to be having

In the State of Pennsylvania, a huge shale natural gas deposit has been found that could hold an even larger chance for growth in energy production in the United States. This natural gas deposit called the Marcellus shale deposit actually “stretches 1,000 miles from New York to Virginia and is 300 miles across at the widest point” (Grottenthaler 2011). Most of this formation of shale natural gas lies in the Pennsylvania portion of the shale natural gas deposit containing roughly “$500 billion in recoverable gas” (Finkel 2011). Not only is this great for the economy in Pennsylvania, it is also a great sign for the economy in the rest of the United States as well. According to many experts on the

The Marcellus Shale underlies Western Maryland along with New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and is the United States’ largest on-shore natural gas reserve (Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative, 2015). Maryland is unique in its fracking regulations as emphasized by former Governor Martin O’Malley, who in 2011 signed the Marcellus Shale Safe

This is a positive effect since almost all of our oil and energy comes from foreign entities. With this method, we can now supply a greater amount of our own energy and become more self-sufficient. With more wells being opened there comes more employment opportunities, from the drilling site to the transportation of products. The increase of natural gas production has started a decline in the consumption of coal energy. The drop in the burning of coal produces less carbon dioxide (CO2). Natural gas produces about half of the CO2 than that of coal making it a better choice.

These reserves are found within shale formations. Shale is a sedimentary rock that is very low in permeability and porousness making it difficult to tap the gas and oil held within the formations. Due to the combination of fracking and new drilling technology, the production of natural oil and gas has constantly increased every year since 2006. In the year 1990, America reached a height of natural gas and oil production, producing about 70.706 quadrillion BTU of energy but that number would begin to decrease steadily due to the scarcity of acquiring natural gas and oil. In 2006 the production of energy was 69.443 quadrillion BTU. Accordingly, in 2010 fracking became popular and the production level reached 74.812 quadrillion BTU of energy. By 2011, the production of energy increased to 78.091 quadrillion BTU. The domestic production of natural gas and oil had a large contribution towards this growth. With this increase in production, the United states became the second largest natural gas producer in 2011.The European Union which is the third highest producer of natural gas and oil produced only about a quarter of natural gas and oil compared to that produced in the United

In 2000, shale beds where the number one source of America’s constant need for gas. Most of that production increase has come about to the growing need of hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”, which is a process used to release oil or gas from underground formations that are otherwise too hard to mine with other tools. Over the past few years, advances in fracking technology have made huge reserves of natural gas in America economically recoverable. According to the Energy Information Administration, shale gas plays, or fields, in the United States, most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and the Barnett, in Texas, are said to contain enough natural gas to give power to the country for a hundred and ten years. With the everlasting specter of energy independence, some have argued that such efforts to recover natural gas need to be expanded. Activists concerned with fracking’s potential environmental hazards view the new process as a serious threat to our environment. There are many different opinions on wether or not fracking is a safe way to gain our gasoline, and to meet the growing demands of gasoline around the world. The process of fracking creates cracks that come from wells into oil and gas formations by pumping highly pressurized fluids, ceramic beads, sand, and a mixture of chemicals, into the gas formation. As this fluid holds the underground fissures open, oil and gas fly up the well to the surface where they are

In the United States; most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and in Texas are said to contain enough natural gas power the country for 110 years. In 2000, shale beds provided 1 percent of America’s natural gas supply. Today, that figure stands at nearly 25 percent. Most of that population increase is due to the growing popularity of hydraulic fracturing. With the enticing specter of energy independence in the balance, some have argued that such efforts to recover gas need to be expanded. While some activists believe that fracking’s potential environment hazards view the process as a serious threat. Water makes up a high percentage of fracking fluid that fluid also flows back up the well, and is stored in open pits until it can be sent to a treatment plant. A variable amount of

Hydraulic fracturing, which is more commonly known as “fracking”, is a term that many people may have heard about, but actually have very little knowledge on. Fracking is a topic that is highly controversial between people who work in the industry, scientists, and environmental professionals. Fracking has been around for a long time, but it’s only been in the past thirty years that it’s really taken off in what is known as the shale gas boom. As our sources of energy dwindle down it becomes important to consider our future and look into new sources of affordable and sustainable energy. People in the fracking industry praise the many benefits of hydraulic fracking, saying that is already being used to offset much of our current energy costs, and many consider it to be the future of all of our energy needs.

Developing these natural gas resources can help enhance the country’s energy security, strengthen local and state economies, and fuel job growth. Many Americans, oppose any kind of pollution. However, here are reasons to support fracking: 1. It can lead to our nation becoming energy independent 2. It will provide an enormous boost to our state and local economies 3. It has already driven down natural gas prices to the point where utilities are replacing dirty coal-fired power plants with cleaner natural gas-burning plans and increasingly vehicles are burning natural gas instead of dirtier gasoline 4. It will provide many well-paying jobs to geologists, well drillers, office workers, truck drivers, construction workers, and many more.

What is Marcellus Shale? It is a marine sedimentary rock buried thousands of feet beneath the earths surfaces. Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups and is formed in four main ways: by the deposition of the weathered remains of other rocks; by the accumulation and the consolidation of sediments; by the deposition of the results of biogenic activity; and by precipitation from solution. Marcellus Shale is found throughout the Allegheny Plateau region of the northern Appalachian basin of North America. It stretches from upstate New York south through Pennsylvania to West Virginia and west to parts of Ohio. Marcellus shale was named after a town in upstate New York, the rock itself is millions of years old, formed from mud and other natural materials. Its made up of the formation of black shale that may contain lime stone beds and concentrations of iron pyrite and siderite. The Sedimentary beds and structure is very well developed. Lighter colored shales in the upper portion of the formation tend to split into small thin edged fragments after exposure. The fragments may have and leave rust stains from exposure of pyrite to air, and tiny gypsum crystals from the reaction between both of the fragments pyrite and the limestone particles. Fresh exposures of the pyriteiferous shale may develop the secondary mineralization of orange limonite and the pale yellow efflorescence or bloom of sulfur, associated with acid

Natural gas began to be extracted from the Marcellus shale formation in the mid-2000s’, and now well pads and their associated infrastructures are now well known fixtures in the Appalachian Mountain regions. Marcellus Shale is an organically rich black shale which is currently being explored by drilling as a source of natural gas. The region in question encompasses most of the relatively uninhabited Appalachian basin, which is located within the Appalachian mountain range. The basin is comprised of sedimentary rocks which stretch from Ontario, Canada all the way down through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and New Jersey.

In 1848, James Marshall discovered a single nugget of gold in the American River in California, setting off a massive migration west as hundreds sought to capitalize upon the Gold Rush. Today, a similar situation is playing out. In the late 2000s, new technology enabled workers to extract natural gas from previously inaccessible shale deposits through horizontal hydraulic fracturing. This “shale boom” has had companies racing to capitalize upon the potential of vast natural gas and promises of energy independence and cheap energy. Yet, as the miners during the Gold Rush found upon arriving to California, scientists today are finding that many of the initial claims are not as they seemed. Companies are recklessly continuing, prospecting for natural gas deposits. Hydraulic fracturing is a means of extracting natural gas from deep, previously inaccessible shale deposits. It involves injecting a fracking cocktail mixture of water, sand, and various other chemical fluids into the ground at very high pressures to literally fracture the ground, releasing natural gas that can then be collected. Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel, yet due to the recent fracking boom, many people in the United States have heralded it as the future of America’s energy, the way to energy security.