Since the natural gas reserves of the Earth
are slowly fading away, people are trying to find different ways to get access
to the remaining resources, and one of the recent developments in this regard
comes in the form of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.
If you are asking yourself what is fracking,
then you should know that this is basically the process of injecting fluid
during the drilling process that is made at a high pressure, all with the only
purpose of fracturing the rocks and releasing the natural gas that is found
inside them.
This technique has been applied to various wells,
and these include tight oil, coal seam gas, as well as tight gas for example.
In fact, fracking was firstly used back in 1947 during an experiment, and since
then it has become a widely used, although very controversial way to release
natural gas onto the surface. Since then, more than 2.5 million of fracturing
operations have started all over the globe, although in recent years a boom has
started in this regard, with numerous places being seen as feasible and ready
to exploit.
And while fracking might be the answer to numerous
natural gas problems that the world is currently experiencing, it’s also safe
to say that this is a very controversial method, with numerous countries all
over the world being against it.
The persons that agree to it, mainly the
ones that are exploiting it are talking about the major economic benefits that
this method offers. However, there are numerous opponents that note the
downsides of fracking and the potential dangers that it can bring.
One of the major problems that fracking
brings to the table is the fact that the whole process can have a negative
impact on the environment. First of all, it will contaminate the ground water
and make it undrinkable, a bad thing considering that there are still many
people all over the world that rely on fountains and ground water to get their
daily supply of the much needed liquid.
Then, there’s the problem that the fracking
process degrades the air quality which is also a major downside. And as if that
isn’t enough on its own, fracking will even trigger earthquakes, bring noise
pollution, surface pollution and just remove the ability for the environment to
repair itself in a natural manner.
If you are one of the persons wondering
what hydraulic fracking is, then you can easily see this is a process that can
damage the environment irreversibly. While it does have its upsides, fracking
can bring some major negative consequences for the humans in that particular
area, as well as the wildlife and plants.
We can clearly say that this is the gas
extraction method of the future, but with so many downsides, we can expect that
a new, safer method will be found soon enough!
