Hydraulic fracturing
From ClimateWiki
A combination of new natural gas discoveries in shale rock formations and rapid technological advances to recover the gas has spectacularly improved the U.S. domestic energy outlook. America’s domestic natural gas reserves are so abundant that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that within a few years electricity from natural gas will become less expensive than electricity from coal. Nevertheless, some environmental activist groups are trying to shut down natural gas production – and especially production from shale rock – arguing environmental harms outweigh the economic benefits.
On the economic front, the newfound abundance in domestic natural gas reserves promises unprecedented energy prosperity and security. At a January 2011 energy and environment conference, Mitchell Baer, director of oil and gas analysis for the U.S. Department of Energy told the audience that the United States has 650 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas in shale rock formations alone, and that number keeps growing every year. Baer noted U.S. energy producers currently produce only 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year, which is sufficient to power 89 percent of the nation’s natural gas usage. Accordingly, natural gas from domestic shale rock formations alone can meet our nation’s natural gas usage for years at current consumption levels.
Shale gas production tremendously benefits the regional economies where production takes place. Even though natural gas production from shale rock is still gathering momentum, a recent Pennsylvania State University study found shale gas production in 2009 generated 48,000 jobs, $400 million in tax revenues, and $3.8 billion in economic output in Pennsylvania alone.
Environmentally, shale has proven remarkably safe for the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not found a single instance of drinking water being contaminated by hydraulic fracturing, the technique used to produce natural gas from shale rock. Shale rock formations containing natural gas occur hundreds or thousands of feet below groundwater tables and are kept separate from groundwater by impermeable rock layers. Minor instances of groundwater pollution have been reported from time to time, but these events have occurred largely due to faulty pipe seals at the surface, and are as likely to occur at conventional natural gas producing sites as they are hydraulic fracturing sites.
Moreover, investigative journalists have debunked sensational assertions that hydraulic fracturing is to blame for people being able to light their tap water on fire. For example, the agenda-driven movie “Gasland” showed a Colorado resident lighting fire to water running from his kitchen sink faucet. While the movie asserted the flammable water was being caused by recent hydraulic fracturing activity nearby, investigative journalists discovered that methane-rich natural gas is so prevalent in the area that residents have been able to light their water on fire since at least the 1930s, long before hydraulic fracturing occurred. If anything, natural gas production – from hydraulic fracturing or other methods – is likely to reduce the naturally occurring contamination of regional water.
Further Reading
Penn State Study Documents Economic Benefits of Shale Production: This article from Environment & Climate News reports on a fact sheet produced by the Penn State Cooperative Extension Marcellus Education Team on the economic benefits of shale expansion as demonstrated using data from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
Hydraulic Fracturing—Is It Safe?: The Institute for Energy Research analyzes the effect—or lack thereof—of fracking on groundwater resources and the regulations already in place to ensure groundwater protection.
Hydraulic Fracturing: Unlocking America’s Natural Gas Resources: The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and natural gas industry trade association, provides a primer on hydraulic fracturing, including details on the process.
Hydraulic Fracturing: Beneficent Breakthrough or Environmental Endangerment?: A panel of experts from the environmental and free-market communities gathered at the American Enterprise Institute to discuss the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing.
State Regulators Clear Fracking in Water Pollution Claims: Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, discusses safety analyses conducted by state regulators in Colorado and Texas that found no connection between water degradation and fracking.
Hydraulic Fracturing: A Safe, Proven Technology Studied for Decades by Multiple Agencies: Range Resources, a natural gas company operating in the Appalachian region and American Southwest, compiles studies from state and federal regulatory agencies documenting the minimal level of risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Inconvenient Truths of ‘Gasland’ Documentary: Irish journalist Phelim McAleer revisits the pivotal scene in the documentary Gasland in which a Colorado resident’s tap water is set on fire—unveiling the phenomenon as natural and not caused by natural gas extraction.
