Prompt #7
One of the biggest engineering controversies today is
whether we should use hydraulic fracking or not. Now for those of you who don’t
know what this is, hydraulic fracking is a procedure where rocks and rock
formations are fractured to allow oil and gas to flow out. It’s done by
injecting fluids (usually water) to force them to open either further to make
it easier to extract oil and gas. Although this does make it easier to get gas
in the U.S, this method has had some environmental impacts, which is why some
people propose on banning the use of fracking here in the U.S. In this article,
I’ll talk about the pros of using hydraulic fracking, and then the cons of this
method.
If you
look at it from an economic stand point, it’s much cheaper to get oil through
fracking, and since it can be done within local jurisdictions, means the U.S.
will be less dependent on foreign oil. With oil and gas produced locally,
industries can become more competitive due to low energy costs. And the
fracking industry will create more jobs. In 2012, the gas industry employed at
least 1.2 million people. And these numbers will soon double or triple due to
the lifting of bans of fracking.
There’s
also some environmental benefits to fracking too. Since the chemicals are
injected deep underneath the Earth, they would cause less damage to the surface
and the air wouldn’t get contaminated with toxins. And because it’s done
underground, its less likely to contaminate large bodies of water.
But most
importantly, this buys more time to until renewable energy is fully developed
and everyone is able to access it. The low cost and the ease to use this method
to extract gas and oil will produce enough energy to supply America for some
time until we find another source of energy.
CONS
The most
used liquid to break open the rocks is water. Each fracking job requires about
1 to 8 million gallons of water to complete. With places like California
suffering severe drought, it brings into question how the water should be
really used. In 2014, it was reported that 35 million gallons of water was
removed from aquifers in Michigan. If fresh water isn’t managed properly, we
could see our lakes and rivers dry up.
Although
fracking doesn’t pollute large bodies of water like lakes and rivers, there
have been accusations that wells have been polluted. The National Resource
Defense Council was able to show a list of such contamination and the Safe
Drinking Water Act was created.
Another
big reason people are scared of fracking is that it’s been linked to earthquakes
in the U.S. and in other countries as well. One such incident occurred in
Blackpool in 2011, that two “seismic events” occurred and it was thought to be
from fracking. They measured 2.3 and 1.5 on the Richter scale.
And
lastly, the chemicals used in fracking can be harmful to the environment, which includes biocide, polymeric lubricant,
surfactant, and stabilizer. But since companies aren’t required to disclose any
information about the chemicals they use, they can change the ingredients,
sometimes with more harmful chemicals. If you liked this post or you have
something to add, please leave a comment and I’ll reply back as soon as I can.
Sources
Http://greengarageblog.org/author/greengarageblogadmin.
"List Of Top 9 Pros And Cons Of Fracking." Green Garage. N.p.,
10 June 2015. Web. 09 Oct. 2016.
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