Fracking Research Paper

Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States The use of hydraulic fracturing has become a topic of debate. Some countries, such as France, have even gone as far as to ban fracking completely. Many people oppose fracking because of the possible environmental impact it could have because of the amount of water needed for the process and the chemicals used that could potentially contaminate drinking water. I believe that using hydraulic fracturing in the United States, when closely monitored and carefully regulated, is essential for the country to become more energy independent and can provide a boost to our economy.
Hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, is a technique used for obtaining petroleum and natural gas. Fracking was first used …show more content…
In an analysis done by Catherine Hausman and Ryan Kellogg, they estimated both the supply curve and the demand curve of natural gas. They found that the more abundant supply of natural gas has lowered the price by 47 percent, or about three dollars and forty-five cents per one thousand cubic feet (12-14).
One major concern of those who oppose fracking is the amount of water consumed in the process. The average frack job consumes about two to five million gallons of fresh water per well. Some of those wells are fracked multiple times. The total consumption of fresh water per year is about one hundred thirty-five billion gallons a year in the United States (Jenkins).
Some supporters of fracking will argue that nuclear power uses more water than power generated from shale gas because of the vast amount of water used in the cooling systems of nuclear reactors. While more fresh water is withdrawn for the use of nuclear power, a majority of that water is fed back into waterways uncontaminated. The water that is contaminated is treated at wastewater treatment plants and released back into water sources. While some of the water used as fracking fluid remains in the shale deposits it is pumped into, much of the fluid is recovered. The remaining flow back is contaminated and must either be disposed of or recycled. So while more water is withdrawn for the use of nuclear power, more water is actually consumed in the process of fracking

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