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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 5 page paper that provides an overview of fracking. The potential danger of fracking in contaminating drinking water is considered. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KW60_KFsci018.doc
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about the continued use of fossil fuels, nations are beginning to look towards the development of new economically and environmentally sound energy sources. Chief among these, at least in the
United States, is the move towards drilling for natural gas in underground shale deposits. While a great deal of natural gas has historically been acquired from biogenic sources such as
decomposing organic matter, drilling allows one to tap into thermogenic sources of gas deep beneath the earth, potentially obtaining a quantity of gas that could significantly offset the countrys dependence
upon oil. Accessing this thermogenic gas, however, requires the use of a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", which has raised nearly as many environmental concerns as oil. A
recent article in Scientific American addressed this very issue, considering the question of whether or not the repetitious fracking of shale layers has the potential to release toxic chemicals into
drinking water supplies. The process of fracking basically involves releasing chemically treated water at high pressures in order to fracture layers of shale rock, releasing natural gas that is then
captured and contained by drillers. Environmental concerns arise when excessively frequent fracking causes contamination of drinking water either through the drilled channels inadvertently connecting shale layers to groundwater deposits, or
through a failure to properly contain the many thousands of gallons of toxic water that are produced as a byproduct of the fracking process. As major energy corporations such as
Halliburton and Chesapeake have moved to step up fracking exercises in the United States, especially in areas such as the Appalachian basin, these concerns have become more and more important;
there is, in short, a vital need to balance the political, economic, and environmental needs of tapping into new energy sources with the potentially negative environmental impacts of fracking. The
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