Between 2005 and 2013, the oil and gas industry drilled around 82,000 hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, wells to extract shale gas across the country. The seemingly eminent shift to a country powered by natural gas has both active proponents and vocal detractors. Fracking is neither as good nor as bad as those on either side of the issue would have us believe. As more parties become invested in the debate, however, it becomes all the harder to cut through the stigma and whitewashing to get to the truth about fracking.
Since 2007, fracking-related gas production has increased dramatically, shifting the American energy landscape. Through the power of fracking, we have been able to extract massive stores of previously inaccessible natural gas from beneath the ground. Currently, fracking has allowed us to access reserves that are two miles beneath the earth’s surface. The most notable reservoir — the Marcellus shale — contains an estimated one trillion cubic feet of natural gas, stretching from New York to West Virginia and encompassing Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio. This new capability and productivity can continue to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, reducing the influence of oil on foreign policy in a way unforeseen 10 to 20 years ago. In 2013, the United States was the top producer of natural gas, accounting for almost 20 percent of global production — and every year total output increases. Energy is becoming more affordable, and with the cheaper prices has come a seemingly more secure energy future.
A common environmental concern with fracking is the immense amount of water consumed in the process. Yet a 2010 discussion paper published by the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group indicated that fracking consumes less water per unit of energy produced than onshore oil production or coal mining and washing. The increase in efficiency of fracking compared to conventional drilling allows us to produce more energy with less water. Natural gas produced from fracking also releases nearly half the volume of carbon dioxide when burned compared to an equal volume of coal. Limiting the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — the chief contributor to global climate change — is our best way of slowing the rate of temperature increases in the future. Furthermore, natural gas in its liquified form produces more than twice the energy of coal and at least 25 percent more energy than crude oil per kilogram. This equates to using less fuel and less drilling to satisfy our energy demand.
Yet fracking is by no means the end-all-be-all answer to the problems caused by energy production. Natural gas is a non-renewable energy source, and like all fossil fuels it releases harmful greenhouse gases when used for energy. We are at a crossroads — a choice between traditional energy and renewable, carbon-neutral and green energy sources. The time has come for our nation to innovate and move beyond antiquated fossil fuels that pose a risk to human health and to the Earth’s environment. In the best case scenario, we have already put enough carbon dioxide into our atmosphere to cause the global temperature to rise a couple degrees over the next century. Burning fossil fuels in energy plants and cars exposes people to a number of damaging pollutants, including the sulfur dioxides and nitrous dioxides that contribute to smog in cities. We must continue to research and develop sustainable sources like wind, water and solar energy. Fracking is a stop-gap measure at best. The real next step in our energy use will come when renewable energy becomes our primary energy source. In the meantime, it is clear that fracking is a desirable and more efficient alternative to coal and foreign oil.
Moving forward, we must be mindful not to let fracking distract us from the ultimate goal of ending human combustion of fuels for energy. Natural gas is the easy short-term answer to our problems — a pill to relieve us from the ethical dilemmas created by rampant mountaintop removal mining for coal and our reliance on foreign oil. Hydraulic fracturing provides a solution to these smaller concerns, but it must not come at the price of sidelining development and investment in renewable energy sources. These two steps taken together will release us from our destructive habit of burning fuel that threatens the Earth and leaves us beholden to the interests of big oil.
