Table of Contents
How does fracking affect water quality?
Fracking can contaminate water supplies if it is not done properly, because the fracking fluid injected into rock to enable gas to be released often contains chemicals.
How does fracking affect climate change?
DISRUPTING OUR CLIMATE Fracking releases large amounts of methane, a dangerously potent greenhouse gas. Fracked shale gas wells, for example, may have methane leakage rates as high as 7.9 percent, which would make such natural gas worse for the climate than coal.
Why is fracking needed?
Fracking is essential for the production of natural gas and oil from shale formations, and with advances in fracking technology, it is becoming easier and more accessible to access natural gas. Natural gas has many residential, commercial and industrial uses.
How much water is wasted in fracking?
Oil and natural gas fracking, on average, uses more than 28 times the water it did 15 years ago, gulping up to 9.6 million gallons of water per well and putting farming and drinking sources at risk in arid states, especially during drought.
Does fracking require fresh water?
Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Demand Hydraulically fracturing a modern well can require millions of gallons of water for the initial fracturing process. This is a potential problem in arid regions with competing demands for fresh water (i.e. high water stress), such as Colorado and West Texas (see map).
What is Shell gas?
Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas.
What happens to water after fracking?
Most of the water and additives used in hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) remain deep underground in the geologic formation from which the oil or gas is being extracted. Produced water is often disposed of by injecting it into deep geologic formations via wells that are specifically designed for that purpose.
Is fracking good or bad for climate change?
Fracking releases large amounts of methane, a dangerously potent greenhouse gas. Fracked shale gas wells, for example, may have methane leakage rates as high as 7.9 percent, which would make such natural gas worse for the climate than coal. But fracking also threatens our climate in another way.
Who invented fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing
| Schematic depiction of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas | |
|---|---|
| Process type | Mechanical |
| Product(s) | Natural gas, petroleum |
| Inventor | Floyd Farris, Joseph B. Clark (Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation) |
| Year of invention | 1947 |
Is water needed for fracking?
The average fracking job uses roughly 4 million gallons of water per well – or about as much water as New York City uses every six minutes and about 1.3 percent of the water used by the country’s car washes every day.