Hydraulic fracturing's economic benefits and environmental costs in the USA

Hydraulic Fracturing

Fracking

Fracking or hydraulic fracturing can be described as a process of drilling deep the earth after which a high pressure water mixture can be directed within the rocks for the gas trapped beneath the sand to be released. The rock is injected with sand, chemical and water at high pressure that will make the gas underneath to flow out on top of the well.

As much as fracking has its advantage to a nation, it also have some negative part of it for example in U.S., it has revolutionized the energy industry, but also prompted environmental concerns.

Disadvantages

Fracking uses a significant amount of water that has to be transported to these sites, using huge environmental cost. Carcinogenic chemical that are used in the process of fracking are capable of escaping thereby contaminating groundwater that are found next to the site. Such pollution is caused by bad practice, more than essentially risky technique. Fracking process also result to small tremors beneath the earth. An example is in Blackpool where fracking caused earthquakes of 1.5 and 2.2 magnitudes in 2011.

According to campaigners fracking distracts energy firms as well as governments from investing in sources of energy that are renewable, and thereby encourages continued reliance on fossil fuels. Moreover, though many people are unlikely to feel it and even unlikely for it to cause any damage, fracking is recognized as a potential hazard of the technique.

For sometimes a lot of attention regarding this debate has been directed on the potential negative local impacts. An investigation is already going in determining the costs of fracking to the environment, health of workers and citizens around drill sites, as well as infrastructure. They have forgotten to look into the likelihood of the benefits, rational assessment of proper policy, and inspection requirements of both costs and benefits.

Conclusion

The significant increase in Fracking to produce oil and gas energy has produced direct economic effects that can be quantified and potentially widely reaching indirect effects. However, there has been misrepresentation of these effects within the public discussions.

Reference

Kevin A. Hassett, Aparna Mathur (2013) "Benefits of Hydraulic Fracking" Oxford Energy Forum. Retrieved September 20, 2013 from http://www.aei.org/article/economics/benefits-of-hydraulic-fracking/