1 / 11

Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing. Recently cited in the news. In the last 24 hours Business Week Fox News MSNBC BBC CNN Reuters. The goal of hydraulic fracturing . Recovery of natural gas deep below the surface. Natural gas is primarily used for Industry Electricity. Why seek natural gas?.

auberta-cameo
Download Presentation

Hydraulic Fracturing

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Hydraulic Fracturing

  2. Recently cited in the news • In the last 24 hours • Business Week • Fox News • MSNBC • BBC • CNN • Reuters

  3. The goal of hydraulic fracturing • Recovery of natural gas deep below the surface. • Natural gas is primarily used for • Industry • Electricity

  4. Why seek natural gas? • Global warming emissions from its combustion are much lower than those from coal or oil. • Natural gas produces 43 % fewer carbon emissions than coal for each unit of energy delivered, and 30 % fewer emissions than oil. • Beware: Production of natural gas nearly equalizes the emissions.

  5. Natural gas-containing deposits (brown) underlie 32 of the lower 48 states

  6. The history of hydraulic fracturing “fracking” • Fracking has been done since 1949 with origins traced to 1860. Nitroglycerin was used in the 1800’s • In the 1930s, the idea of injecting a nonexplosive fluid (acid) into the ground to stimulate a well became popular. • Aqueous fluids such as acid, water, and brines are used now as the base fluid in approximately 96% of all fracturing treatments employing a propping agent.

  7. Horizontal • Vertical

  8. Problems associated with fracking • Earthquakes – Induced seismicity • Contamination of drinking and irrigation water • Waste water storage and transportation • December 8, 2011 • Health effects? The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a sister agency to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says a comprehensive study could cost upwards of $100 million. • Marcellus Shale formation

  9. Natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing chemicals with 10 or more health effects • 2,2',2"-Nitrilotriethanol • • 2-Ethylhexanol • • 5-Chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one • • Acetic acid • • Acrolein • • Acrylamide (2-propenamide) • • Acrylic acid • • Ammonia • • Ammonium chloride • • Ammonium nitrate • • Aniline • • Benzyl chloride • • Boric acid • • Cadmium • • Calcium hypochlorite • • Chlorine • • Chlorine dioxide • • Dibromoacetonitrile 1 • • Diesel 2 • • Diethanolamine • • Diethylenetriamine • • Dimethyl formamide • • Epidian • • Ethanol (acetylenic alcohol) • • Ethyl mercaptan • • Ethylbenzene • • Ethylene glycol • • Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2-BE) • • Ethylene oxide • • Ferrous sulfate • • Formaldehyde • • Formic acid • • Fuel oil #2 • • Glutaraldehyde • • Glyoxal • • Hydrodesulfurized kerosene • • Hydrogen sulfide • • Iron • • Isobutyl alcohol (2-methyl-1-propanol) • • Isopropanol (propan-2-ol) • • Kerosene • • Light naphthenic distillates, hydrotreated • • Mercaptoacidic acid • • Methanol • • Methylene bis(thiocyanate) • • Monoethanolamine • • NaHCO3 • • Naphtha, petroleum medium aliphatic • • Naphthalene • • Natural gas condensates • • Nickel sulfate • • Paraformaldehyde • • Petroleum distillate naptha • • Petroleum distillate/ naphtha • • Phosphonium, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)-sulfate • • Propane-1,2-diol • • Sodium bromate • • Sodium chlorite (chlorous acid, sodium salt) • • Sodium hypochlorite • • Sodium nitrate • • Sodium nitrite • • Sodium sulfite • • Styrene • • Sulfur dioxide • • Sulfuric acid • • Tetrahydro-3,5-dimethyl-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine-2-thione (Dazomet) • • Titanium dioxide • • Tributyl phosphate • • Triethylene glycol • • Urea • • Xylene

  10. Is fracking regulated? • Exempt from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act • Individual states may have regulations • Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC Act) • introduced in March 2011 in United States House and Senate. • requires companies to disclose the chemicals injected underground • eliminate the exemption of hydraulic fracturing operations from regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) • ensures that medical professionals can access information about the chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids if an individual has been harmed and needs medical care

  11. Who should we believe? • Scientists? • Citizens? • Politicians? • Jon Stewart? • Timeline

More Related