![]() ![]() That number could rise to 3 million by 2020. Today, the industry supports 1.7m jobs - a considerable accomplishment given the relative newness of the technology. "The United States is in the midst of the 'unconventional revolution in oil and gas' that, it becomes increasingly apparent, goes beyond energy itself. A few viewpoints on both sides of the issue follow. Debate rages on about whether these worldwide reserves can be tapped safely, and whether environmental damage from fracking natural gas will outweigh the gains from using a fuel that is cleaner than oil or coal, but remains a fossil fuel nonetheless. Now countries around the world, including China, the United Kingdom and South Africa, are eyeing shale development as the potential key to unlock a similar windfall of homegrown energy. Natural gas production, already at new highs thanks to shale gas, is expected to grow 44 percent in the U.S. In the United States, oil production last year reached its highest level in 14 years, thanks in part to output from North Dakota's Bakken Shale, and is expected to keep rising. The implications of this sea change are debatable, but the impact is undeniable. ![]() (See interactive: " Breaking Fuel from the Rock") Fracking-the high-pressure injection of water, chemicals and sand into shale deposits to release the gas and oil trapped within the rock-in recent years has been combined with horizontal drilling and other improvements in technology to harvest stores of gas and oil that previously were thought commercially unfeasible to access. They people believe the regulations are “propelled by emotional cries and shaky scientific evidence.The use of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas from the earth dates back to the 1940s, but only in the past few years has "fracking" become an energy buzzword, alluding primarily to the shale gas boom in the United States and all of the controversy that has accompanied it. He will also contain greenhouse gas emissions from drilling sites.įracking activists believe that fracking regulations could slow down drilling activity, which puts the U.S. Obama promises to prevent chemicals from seeping into groundwater. The Obama Administration is imposing fracking regulations this year. The EPA stepped in to run a few tests on the water sources in fracking neighbors. Now, fracking is controlled both by state and federal governments. Researchers also found other fracking allegations unconvincing, such as, contaminated drinking water and harmful to air quality.įracking was once controlled by the state. “They said drilling that began 10 years ago in north Texas’s Barnett Shale led to a jump in breast cancer rates.” However, medical researches confirm no such spikes have occurred. The fractured rock is held open by the sand.Īnti-fracking activists have used misleading health claims in the fracking controversy. ![]() The mix is pumped thousands of feet beneath the ground to fracture the shale rock formations, which releases the natural gas into the wells. The process of extracting natural gas requires a mixture of water (99%), sand and chemicals (1%). The extraction process have been controversial over the years. Researchers confirm that the claims relating fracking to breast cancer rates are “just plain false.”įracking is slang for hydraulic fracturing, with is the extraction on natural gas from shale rock formations. What are the claims of anti-fracking activists?Īccording to the Associated Press, claims regarding natural gas drilling and the effect it has on health and air quality are based on inaccurate and misleading science. ![]()
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