The Purification Of Methane

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.

Over the past couple of years a new environmental issue has taken place illegal dumping, which is astoundingly different than the environmental issues that the City of Houston has been commonly known for, although it has devastating effect. In, fact what is rather unusual for this issue unlike the issues of air pollution the oil and gas industry has little to no involvement with creating the issue. While the city of Houston and Galveston had created guidelines for handling illegal dumping in 1999 the need to address this issue returned in early 2015.

When most people think of Texas they think of the booming oil industry that the state has. According to our textbook, “Texas accounts for almost one-third of the country’s natural gas production and holds almost almost a quarter of the country’s natural gas reserves.” Texas has greatly invested in the recourses that are found within the state which makes gives the state a huge economic advantage. When fracking is used to help turn out even larger quantities of natural gas, the economic impact is huge. If the state greatly invested in fracking sites and the use of both traditional and horizontal fracking, the economic gain in the near future could be huge. The state could be turning out twice the amount of natural gas as it is

This increase in cars is also not profitable for the Texas environment. “Highway vehicles account for about 40 percent of NOx and 15 percent of VOCs in the United States, according to EPA figures. But power plants, factories, oil refineries, and other industrial facilities are big contributors too” (Hopkins, 2015). An increase in the number of cars will cause and increase in pollution. Also, adding more power plants and oil refineries add to the damage of the environment which assists in the creation of smog.

Introduction: In the kind of world we live in today, we are in dire need of oil. Our cars need oil, our buses need it, our planes and machines. Oil and gas production are very important in order for the many tasks we do day to day and we have become dependent on it. Fracking is a process that uses high pressure water and other chemicals to gather oil under the ground. Although fracking is a fantastic way to gather oil, there have been several problems that have been occurring. In Texas many jobs and drilling locations are appearing because of the high demand for oil. Fracking is a very good way to gather natural gas however, it is causing a lot of problems for society and the environment in Texas.

The plan of development for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline does not address the four objects of sustainability. The pipeline plan mainly addresses the economic aspect and benefits of the construction. Dominion proposes that citizens and businesses of North Carolina and Virginia have the potential to save about $377 million dollars a year due to the lower energy cost being promised (Benefits and Economic Impact). It is also reported that the construction analysis for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline can potentially bring $456.3 million into the economy of Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina (Benefits and Economic Impact). Due to the amount of money the pipeline can bring into the economy of these states, it appears that the livability, equity, and ecological impacts of the pipeline have been overlooked. Conservationists have expressed high concern about the ecological damage that will be caused by the construction, as it will cause large amounts of forest fragmentation on the planned route through the three states (Atlantic Coast Pipeline Re-route Threatens New Parts of Virginia and WV). Not only is the route of the pipeline fragmenting animal habits, causing ecological damage, it will also threaten the livelihood of many West Virginians and Virginians while not even meeting the needs of all the citizens of these states (Atlantic Coast Pipeline Re-route Threatens New Parts of Virginia and WV). Out of the four objectives of sustainability, Dominion does not adequately address the equity of the citizens of the three states. This Atlantic Coast Pipeline has the potential to be built in a manner that would protect the rights of the many landowners the pipeline is planned to go through. The pipeline could be routed to run along the transmission lines that Dominion has placed throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina (Averitt). Another option is that Dominion could have participated in free-market negotiations, this would have allowed for Dominion to

Local control is in close contact with the people hence it is easier for local control to enact a ban as compared with the state Government. The local control bans however fails to progress due to some court decisions that dictate that local control as well as the bans imposed by them are void. However, the local control has the interest of people at heart. According to the people of Texas, there should be put measures which ensure that the environment is well conserved. Texas people were having the power to preserve their environment until the policy-makers passed bills that denied Texas citizens the mandate to preserve their environment any longer. According to the articles, gas and oil extraction as well as excursion of wastewaters led to experiences of Earthquakes in Texas which called for more control on the mining process by Texas oil industries. Sadly, the law-makers’ current bills insinuated that those industries would continue to handle their business normally leaving the citizens with zero control over their

The PR firms expound the virtues of natural gas and would have us to believe “the negative side-effects caused by fracking are insignificant” (Larson 2). They rattle off information on how natural gas is a clean burning source of energy and how it is now responsible for 30% of electricity production, as well as heating in half of the homes in U.S.; therefore lessening our dependency on foreign suppliers. All positives attributes, granted, but at the end of the day fracking is a business; big business whose primary focus is keeping their shareholders happy with increase revenue. Unfortunately in their quest to make the almighty dollar, they are putting human lives as well as the environment at risk with the use of chemicals that are toxic, some are known carcinogens. To add insult to injury, the government, who is supposed to protect the interests of all, as opposed to the interests of a few, granted the energy companies an exemption from the laws meant to provide protection to humans as well as two irreplaceable resources, water and air. Granting this exemption is a clear indication that public health and the preservation of local ecology were less of a priority than making a profit.

Natural gas is the transitional fuel that is cleaner than coal and oil that has been experiencing a boom in the United States for the last few decades. Natural gas is most familiar to us in the form of heating and cooking on gas ranges. It is abundantly available and modern technology has made it much more accessible and cheaper than other energy sources. Hydraulic fracturing, known short as fracking, is the combination of technology with water and chemicals, and high pressure, that breaks through shale rocks to capture energy. The Climate One podcast titled “ Fracking Boom,”explains America’s recent obsession with fracking, surrounding its history, economic stimulus, construction, and community opposition among other issues. Presenting the talk were Russell Gold, author of The Boom: How Fracking Ignited American Energy Revolution and Changed the World, Mark Zoback, professor of Geophysics at Stanford University, and Trevor Houser, co-author of Fueling Up: The Economic Implications of America’s Oil and Gas Boom. The three guest speakers shared their expertise on how the fracking boom can power America’s economy, but can only be successful if the process in making the wells for fracking, are done along guidelines within the regulations.

Citing the documentary “Gasland”, the article brings to account instances in the past where people who lived close to fracking sites had experienced sickness and foul-smelling water. The documentary had then influenced New York State’s decision to ban fracking. By citing this documentary, the article makes the reader to not fully accept the given conclusion. Without going into great detail, the article mentions a couple of environmental groups questioning of the legitimacy of the study, considering that the study uses data generated by oil and gas companies. This also brings to question the limitations of the data used. The article reads unbiasedly towards both sides of the fracking industry, it recognizes the conclusions of the EPA study but still lets the reader know that there is still a lot that has not been explored in the topic.

One of the issues that Texas is currently facing is rooted in a populous industry, fracking. Texas has always been known for being oil and gas friendly, but cities are becoming weary about this industry invading highly populated suburban areas. While local governments have been able to block out drilling and gas wells for some time now, the state has taken a position that is becoming increasingly supportive of the oil and gas industry.

The natural gas industry, according to Greco, is living in a persistent lie as being clean and climate friendly. Although burning natural gas produces less carbon dioxide, the natural gas can also pollute waterways, release methane which is 86 to 105 times as powerful as carbon dioxide, cause health problems, and also contributes to the amount of site accidents occurring in our nation. For example, the natural gas storage leak that occurred outside of Los Angeles in Porter Ranch after a lack of a subsurface shutoff valve caused clouds of gas to be produced outside of the plant for three and a half months caused the locals to experience nausea, vomiting, headaches, and nosebleeds. Erin Brockovich, an environmental activist and research, claimed that the leak was a “BP oil spill, just on land” because of its massive impact and the magnitude, duration, and climate effects. In regards to

Last year alone, oil and gas companies put hundreds of millions of gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluids into the earth. Many of these fluids were found to contain harmful chemicals such as carcinogens- substances that directly cause cancer. This is why hydraulic fracking has been the topic of heated debate over the past few years. This process of drilling for natural gas has become increasingly popular over the past decade, and has in turn produced many questions about the safety of its wells and the chemicals that are used in drilling. Under current regulations, hydraulic fracking is permitted to be conducted at drilling sites that are located very close to residential areas. The chemicals used in the drilling process have been leaking out of wells, and have contaminated drinking water for some communities. In addition, it pollutes the air by putting methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Concerned about the safety of fracking, cities such as Longmont have shown great opposition to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA)’s regulations. In fact, Longmont citizens voted to put a ban on fracking within city limits in 2012. This ban has been met with retaliation from COGA, who sued the city because of the ban. If fracking isn’t allowed to be banned by cities that don’t want it, then the regulations need to change in order to make the practice both prosperous and safe for the community.

At some point in everyone’s lives, we are affected by the rising gas prices in today’s economy. Natural gas is not a renewable resource, since there is a fixed amount of it trapped in the Earth. However, many people carry the misconception that there is a very limited amount of natural gas, and that we may use all of it up. This isn’t true. The gas shortages of the 1970's were prompted by the government’s lack of faith in the industry’s ability to discover and develop new reserves, not by lack of gas supply. The unfortunate impression left by the shortages of gas in the 1970's caused the people to believe that there was a small amount of gas left. On the contrary, the gas resource base is vast, and probably even

In December 2011, the federal Environmental Protection Agency concluded that fracking operations could be responsible for groundwater pollution.“Today’s methods make gas drilling a filthy business. You know it’s bad when nearby residents can light the water coming out of their tap on fire,” says Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. What’s causing the fire is the methane from the drilling operations. A ProPublica investigation in 2009 revealed methane contamination was widespread in drinking water in areas around fracking operations in Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania. The presence of methane in drinking water in Dimock, Pa., had become the focal point for Josh Fox’s investigative documentary, Gasland, which received an Academy Award nomination in 2011 for Outstanding Documentary; Fox also received an Emmy for non-fiction directing. Fox’s interest in fracking intensified when a natural gas company offered $100,000 for mineral rights on property his family owned in Milanville, in the extreme northeast part of Pennsylvania, about 60 miles east of Dimock.