Amber Ingram Bus115 Penny Landuyt Assignment 1 – Case study / Fracking 10/03/2021 Background/Problem The article, Going Green Fracking for Natural Gas: Clean energy solution or environmental catastrophe?, compares the different sides to fracking. It states that on one side hydraulic fracking has the potential to reduce the United States dependance of foreign oil. The Government has a plan for the country to run on 80% clean energy by 2035 and natural gas is a vital piece to that plan1. The article also states that lower income towns have benefited economically from fracking because of the jobs it creates.1 It then goes on to say that fracking has a dark side; that fracking can contaminate groundwater and can have severe environmental impacts.1 The EPA is looking into the ramifications of fracking, and other countries have put a hold on it due to unknown long-term effects. The article states that many fear the energy crisis and economic benefits will overshadow the environmental concerns.1 Analysis Fracking is definitely a hot button issue and I can see why it would be so controversial. We definitely need to find alternative energy sources, but at what cost? Do the risks of fracking out way the rewards, or is it all worth it to get the clean energy we need? Amy Keller with consumer notice writes that “a common pro-fracking argument is that gas is a cleaner form of energy than coal when it’s burned. However, research suggests it may be dirtier than coal in the long run.2 She says that is because the fracking process itself releases large amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere, thus accelerating the greenhouse gas effect and the effects of global climate change.2 This issue is so hard to resolve because we are in need of cleaner energy, Like the article above states we need to reduce the dependance on foreign oil, and the government has vowed for clean energy1. There are deadlines and quotas to meet, and we need to be advancing in the move towards cleaner energy options. I’m just not sure if this is the energy source to put all our hope in. Personally, I think that just clean energy isn’t enough, we need to be thinking about renewable energy sources. We as humans have to start paying attention to what we are doing to the world around us. We are diminishing forests at an alarming rate, all while putting out large quantities of carbon emissions, and now we want to take the very chemicals that make up the world around us so we can continue to live however we please. We as people have to collectively come together and think about what we are doing to our planet as it is the only one we have. Natural gas is not renewable, it is an energy source that we are essentially stealing from our world. Kate Good with One Green Planet thinks that although “hydraulic fracturing has been lauded as the “miracle” cure to America’s dependence on foreign oil, we are seeing that fracking causes more problems than it solves.3 She says fracking not only causes environmental damage but also poses a threat to public health, and that the profit that might be made by fracking is often overshadowed by the negatives that follow.3 Good shares accounts of poisoned drinking water and polluted air, mysterious animal deaths, and even industrial disasters and explosions caused by fracking. Good says Oklahoma has experienced more earthquakes than California in the last year, and that Ohio reported 77 minor earthquakes in a single months’ time.3 This is pretty crazy considering there are no major fault lines to cause this type of increased activity. Yet another red flag in the “should we be doing this” arena. We have to consider the pro’s verses cons in fracking and really take a look at what this could be doing, we need to look at the science and evidence and not just look at the “we need it nows.” Forbes.com writes in their article “The Environmental and Social Effects of Natural Gas Fracking,” that another concern that fracking brings is the large amount of water it takes to extract the gas. They write that these sizable volumes of water needed over short periods of time can cause stress at the coldest, driest, and most critical times of the year for communities surrounding fracking sites.4 Recommendation. I think there are a number of arguments against fracking, and rightfully so. I could have gone on for days listing the negative effects of the hydraulic fracturing process and listed a million more reasons why this is unethical and harmful, not only to the people of this planet, but to the planet itself. So, what now? How do we stop the damage and make a change, all while creating the energy we need to sustain the “first world” life that we know and love? Good says that a number of communities in the US have already started to stand up and initiate a ban on fracking, but says until we come together nationally, we will continue to suffer from these horrible effects.3 She says that the more we explore the far reaching effects of fracking the more evident it becomes that this “cheap gas is not worth the cost.”3 That the damage can never be reversed, and we are not only poisoning the humans but the whole ecosystem is suffering from this “clean energy process.”3 Good writes that “We can’t afford to frack away our futures, so it’s time we took a stand.”3 And I have to say I agree with her. It’s no secret that we need clean and renewable energy, that we have to do something to make sure that we have sustainability for those that come after us but is it not our responsibility today to make sure the world will still be in shape to sustain in the future. Don’t we owe it to our future generations to leave them with a clean and healthy place to live? So, what are our other options? An Osu.edu article gives alternative energy ideas like wind and solar power. The author suggests that because of the increasing environmental cost of fracking that wind and solar power is not only a renewable energy source, but also a more economic choice.6 They state that wind and solar power is clean, affordable, and limitless, and compared to fracking wind and solar produces no hazardous emission to our environment. The author also comments that the United States has enough wind power to potentially produce nearly 10 times the country’s existing power needs.6 Add that to the fact that over 400 American manufacturing plants are already making and building wind components, towers, and blades,6 it really makes me question why wind power isn’t a bigger thing. I’ve often said that we get enough wind here in Colorado to power the world and have wondered before why you don’t see more wind power around here. Green and growing offers possible alternative solutions to regular fracking that still involve the fracking process, but it is tweaked in one way or another. These are water-efficient fracking techniques that could possibly reduce the negative effects of fracking. The author states that there is a water-free system that would use a gelled fluid and propane.5 This method is pumped at a slower rate, it increases the efficiency, and eliminates the water usage.5 The gel absorbs the sand better than water and because the hydrocarbon present in the gel is similar to what is already found in the ground the fluid can be incorporated, eliminating the need to drain and haul toxic wastewater.5 Green and Growing says that thanks to scientific advances and increasing energy concerns it has become a top priority to develop eco-friendly energy and potable water sources. Another option suggested is using Microbial Capacitive Desalination Cells (MCD’s). They have found that these cells show great potential for future energy demands. MDC’s use the electrical current produced by microbes to desalinate water, treat wastewater, and produce bioenergy all at the same time.5 I think that we can see there are several good and viable energy options that we can get behind. I think the risks outweigh the rewards here and there is no real reason that we should be looking into the hydraulic fracturing process as a clean energy source. Not when there are so many other cleaner more renewable, better for the planet options out there. The government needs to make a stand and pull out of supporting the traditional fracking method and start supporting clean healthy ways to power our world, and the people need to come together and make sure that it happens. Works Cited 1 Going Green Fracking for Natural Gas: Clean Energy Solution or Environmental Catastrophe? https://rrcc.desire2learn.com/d2l/lms/dropbox/user/folder_submit_files.d2l?ou=3116230&i sprv=0&db=2420091&cfql=1, Accessed 2 Oct. 2021. 2 Keller, Amy. “Fracking: What It Is and Its Effects on the Environment.” ConsumerNotice.org, Aug. 2021, https://www.consumernotice.org/environmental/fracking/ 3 Good, Kate. “How Drilling the Earth for Natural Gas Is Fracking up Human Lives across America.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 28 May 2021, https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/impact-of-fracking-on-human-health/. 4 Mohsenin, Ava. “The Environmental and Social Impacts of Natural Gas Fracking.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 17 Apr. 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/04/17/theenvironmental-and-social-impacts-of-natural-gas-fracking/?sh=50ad0be91a76. 5 “Alternative Solutions to Fracking? What about Microbial Capacitive Desalination?” Green and Growing, 19 Nov. 2019, https://www.greenandgrowing.org/alternative-solutions-tofracking/. 6 “Fracking, Why? Exploring What Fracking Is and Why Something Needs to Change. Alternative Energies.” Osu.edu, Ohio State University, Oct. 2016, https://u.osu.edu/engr2367publicdocument3/alternatives-to-fracking/alternative-energies/.
