Hydraulic
fracturing, also known as fracking, is a process that extracts natural gas from
deep within the earth. It is accomplished
by drilling down into the earth, then horizontally, and injecting pressurized water,
chemicals, and sand through a pipe. This creates new channels in the rock where
the natural gas can be extracted.
First I want
to address the pros and cons of fracking in Texas. There is a lot of natural gas deep within the
earth. The amount is big enough to make
the whole US, let alone Texas, energy independent for about a century. This is a big deal because it would make us
less dependent on unstable countries in the Middle East for oil. Also, using natural gas as an energy source
creates fewer carbon emissions than coal.
The positives of fracking can help Texas, and the US’ economy, and is at
least worth considering.
Alongside
the advantages to using hydraulic featuring, there is also many downsides to using
this method. Firstly, between two to eight million gallons of water is used in
an average sized fracking well. According
to Michigan Live, as many as 35 million gallons of freshwater is removed from
nearby aquifers for each well in Michigan. Texas is always
in a drought and cannot afford to waste this much water. Fracking involves pumping highly toxic
chemicals into the earth, and there is a chance that it could reach, and poison
the groundwater. The chemicals are so
toxic, that the water cannot even be cleaned in a treatment plant. The companies that make the fracking fluid are
not required to disclose the mixture of chemicals, so it doesn't allow scientists to study the harmful effects, or allow for residents to prepare in
case an accident does happen. A big
downside to hydraulic fracturing is the greenhouse gases. Natural
gas is “cleaner” than oil when burned, but an average of 3% of the gas is
leaked out in the fracking process. This
gas consists largely of methane, which is 25 times more potent than carbon
dioxide. The fracking process also uses
a lot of energy, and the wells are exhausted relatively quickly so it is
necessary to drill many wells to meet the demand.
Fracking can
have a significant effect on Texas’ economy.
In time it can be a useful source of energy until we can eventually
harness renewable energy in the practical manor, but I believe that the
negatives outweigh the positives. Until
more research is done on the fracking process, and the chemicals used, the
risks are too high to make this a primary source of energy in Texas.
Though I honor your opinion that there are risks when hydraulic fracturing is used, I feel there are basic facts that were left out that would be helpful. This summer I have had the privilege to intern for a petroleum engineering firm that consults with many companies and have had the challenge of researching recycled “frac” water. To be more accurate Schlumberger defines hydraulic fracturing as: “A Stimulation treatment routinely performed on oil and gas wells in low-permeability reservoirs. Specially engineered fluids are pumped at high pressure and rate into the reservoir interval to be treated, causing a vertical fracture to open. Proppant, such as grains of sand of a particular size, is mixed with the treatment fluid to keep the fracture open when the treatment is complete. Hydraulic fracturing creates high-conductivity communication with a large area of formation and bypasses any damage that may exists in the near-wellbore area.” Your definition misleads because fracking can be done either vertically or horizontally. Hydraulic drilling that was used as far back as the 1860’s in which vertical hydraulic fracturing was used and is still used today; therefore, stating that it is only horizontal would be misleading.
ReplyDeleteYou addressed the use of millions of freshwater from areas in Michigan as a wasteful endeavor and equated it to the use of water used in Texas. In general, fracking uses .5 - .8% of water the state uses daily. Also, in the Permian Basin, recycling “frack” water is predominantly the method used there and they are able to prevent unnecessary fresh water usage. In fact, there are companies all over Texas that implement the recycling of “frack” water despite the cost to the companies. Too, there are many companies that now use a brackish water mix to lessen the use of fresh water. This is vitally important in presenting this debate so the public is fully informed.
Despite your comment about the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing jobs, there is a website (Frac Focus) in which companies list the fluid composition that identifies chemicals being used. You allude to the toxins that are added to the water used to complete the hydraulic fracturing; however 99.5% of the process uses water and sand and only .5% uses chemical additives. These additives include sodium chloride (table salt), ethylene glycol (household cleaners), borate salts (cosmetics), sodium potassium carbonate (detergents), guar gum (found in foods including ice cream), and isopropanol (found in deodorant). As you can see the items that make up the .5% are used in our daily lives and are actually consumed by humans on a regular basis.
I appreciate your blog and the dilemma that fracking presents to the everyday citizen, but would encourage further research. Based on your pro and con list I can certainly see why you came to the conclusion you made, but after further research I believe you would agree that fracking is worth the risk.
Hi Blair, I appreciate the response but I wanted to comment on a few things that you said. Firstly, I don't understand what is so misleading about my definition of fracking. It was just a general definition of how the process is taking place, and was not meant to influence anybody one way or another.
DeleteAlso, you say that the amount of water used for fracking is relatively low, but I disagree with that statement. On average, a typical fracking well will use 4 million gallons of water. Austin’s daily water usage, according to the AustinTexas.gov, is 140 million gallons. That means that one fracking well uses approximately 2.9% of Austin’s daily water usage. There are well over 30,000 wells in the State of Texas. That is an enormous amount of water used daily. Also, of all of the fracking fluid used in Texas, only 5 percent of the water is recycled, and only 3 percent come from brackish water sources.
As for the chemicals used in the fracking fluid, you only hand-picked a total of six chemicals that are relatively safe. Approximately 40,000 gallons of up to 600 different chemicals are used in a typical fracking well including carcinogens and toxins such as lead, uranium, mercury, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, and benzene. These chemicals are highly toxic and can contaminate entire water sources.
After further research, I stand by my opinion that fracking is dangerous and negatives outweigh the positives.