What is fracking and why is it controversial? Drilling companies suggest trillions of cubic feet of shale gas may be recoverable from underneath parts of the UK through a process known as "fracking". Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock. But how does it work and why is it controversial? What is fracking? Fracking is the process of drilling down 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. The process can be carried out vertically or, more commonly, by drilling horizontally to the rock layer and can create new pathways to release gas or can be used to extend existing channels. The term fracking refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture. Is fracking taking place in the UK? No. Applications have also been submitted in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Image copyright Reuters
Climate change Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant causes of recent climate change, often referred to as "global warming".[1] §Terminology The most general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over long periods of time, regardless of cause.[2] Accordingly, fluctuations over periods shorter than a few decades, such as El Niño, do not represent climate change. §Causes §Internal forcing mechanisms §Life
Environmental and climate change impacts of Shale Gas Researchers at the Tyndall Centre at the University of Manchester have investigated the environmental and climate change impacts of Shale Gas. Funded by the Cooperative , the report (attached below) demonstrates how the extraction of shale gas risks contaminating ground and surface waters. The commissioned report calls for a moratorium on shale gas development until there is a much more thorough understanding of the extraction process. The report concludes that in an energy hungry world, any new fossil fuel resource will only lead to additional carbon emissions. In the case of shale gas there is also a significant risk its use will delay the introduction of renewable energy alternatives. "Consequently, if we are serious in our commitment to avoid dangerous climate change, the only safe place for shale gas remains in the ground" says Professor Kevin Anderson at the Tyndall Centre and the University of Manchester.
Fracking's Latest Scandal? Earthquake Swarms At exactly 10:53 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, 2011, Joe and Mary Reneau were in the bedroom of their whitewashed and brick-trimmed home, a two-story rambler Mary's dad custom-built 43 years ago. Their property encompasses 440 acres of rolling grasslands in Prague, Oklahoma (population 2,400), located 50 miles east of Oklahoma City. When I arrive at their ranch almost a year later on a bright fall morning, Joe is wearing a short-sleeve shirt and jeans held up by navy blue suspenders, and is wedged into a metal chair on his front stoop sipping black coffee from a heavy mug. His German shepherd, Shotzie, is curled at his feet. Joe greets me with a crushing handshake—he is 200 pounds, silver-haired and 6 feet tall, with thick forearms and meaty hands—and invites me inside. He served in Vietnam, did two tours totaling nine years with the Defense Intelligence Agency, and then, in 1984, retired a lieutenant colonel from the US Army to sell real estate and raise cattle.
Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana Author: Joe Hoffman This case study is part of a collection of pages developed by students in the 2012 introductory-level Geology and Human Health course in the Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University. Learn more about this project. Hydrofracking is a controversial oil and gas extraction technique developed in the late 1940s to gain access to fossil energy deposits previously inaccessible to drilling operations. The process, "hydraulic fracturing", literally involves the smashing of rock with millions of gallons of water–along with sand and a undisclosed assortment of chemicals in order to bring gas to the surface. The 2005 Energy Policy Act exempted fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act–this regulatory exclusion is often referred to as the "Halliburton Loophole." Montana fracking is still in the early stages of development compared to other states and has been described by a Texas oil company as "the best kept secret in oil and gas." How Fracking Works Impacts of Fracking
4 Scary New Finds About Fracking This Week Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/Steve Collender December 6, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. This article was published in partnership with GlobalPossibilities.org. Faculty and staff at the Community College of Philadelphia want their institution to “severe all ties to the Marcellus Shale Coalition and the gas fracking industry.” The pushback is a welcome development because it’s not often that fracking is followed by much good news. 1. By now you likely know that most states (and the federal government) don’t require companies that frack oil and gas wells to disclose the multitude of chemicals in the toxic slurry that gets pumped underground. The problem? Few people outside Nabors, the largest onshore drilling contractor by revenue, know exactly what’s in that blend. 2. “Williams said when he looked up to see what the commotion was, the truck's rear end was in the air,” the Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reported.
CONFIRMED - Link Between Fracking and Earthquakes By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com On 5 November 2011 an earthquake measuring 5.6 rattled Oklahoma and was felt as far away as Illinois. Until two years ago Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year, but in 2010, 1,047 quakes shook the state. Why? In Lincoln County, where most of this past weekend’s seismic incidents were centered, there are 181 injection wells, according to Matt Skinner, an official from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the agency which oversees oil and gas production in the state. Cause and effect? The practice of injecting water into deep rock formations causes earthquakes, both the U.S. The U.S. natural gas industry pumps a mixture of water and assorted chemicals deep underground to shatter sediment layers containing natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, known more informally as “fracking.” According to the U.S. Why was the process halted? According to the USGS website, under the undated heading, “Can we cause earthquakes?
Shale gas by country - Wikipedia Shale gas is natural gas produced from shale, a type of sedimentary rock. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States over the past decade, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. One analyst expects shale gas to supply as much as half the natural gas production in North America by 2020.[1] In a 2013 report, the US Energy Information Administration estimated the quantity of technically recoverable shale gas for 41 countries.[2][3] North America leads the worldwide production of shale gas, with the US and Canada having significant levels.[4] Beyond the US and Canada, shale gas is so far produced at a commercial scale only in Argentina and China. Shale gas production has been blocked in many countries largely because of the environmental risks involved. Africa[edit] South Africa[edit] Map Showing Operator Permits in the Karoo Basin, South Africa Americas[edit] Argentina[edit] Canada[edit] Mexico[edit]
Shale Gas in Europe Archives - Shale Gas : Shale Gas Shale Gas and EU Energy Security 11 December 2014 The European Parliamentary Research Service’s report Shale Gas and EU Energy Security aims to advise MEPs of... Read more Shale gas in Europe position paper 13 November 2014 International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’s (IOGP) position paper on Shale gas in Europe suggests that... Reducing European Dependence on Russian Gas: Distinguishing natural gas security from geopolitics 27 October 2014 The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies has published “Reducing European Dependence on Russian Gas: Distinguishing natural gas... Midland Valley of Scotland Shale Study – British Geological Survey (June 2014) The British Geological Survey, commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, has studied the... European Energy Security Strategy – European Commission (May 2014) The European Energy Security Strategy together with an in-depth study of Member States’ energy dependence seeks to ensure that security...