Page - 82 - in Water, Energy, and Environment - A Primer

into drinking water, which is why many people oppose fracking. • Another problem with fracking is leakage of CH4 from wellbores that are not fully sealed (again a cost issue), and from other underground cracks induced by the hydrofracturing that released CH4 away from the wellbore. This kind of leakage has been blamed for the water supplies in homes that seem to be saturated with CH4and canbe ignited. • In addition, the use of trucks to haul in fracking water, return to their water sources, and, if necessary, remove the returned water, creates a lot of heavy traffic that is disturbing to communities along theway. However, fracking is not all bad. There is lots of shale gas (and oil) to be extracted (decades worth), prices for natural gas have come down, natural gas can be substituted for coal in power generation (and release less CO2 per unit of energy generated), and the prospect of long-term supplies of low-cost natural gas is beginning to attract industries back to the US fromoverseas locations. CH4 can also be used in transportation as a compressed fuel or a starter chemical for alternative liquid fuels, reducingour dependenceon imported oil. A detailed review of water issues associated with fracking, Shale Gas and Hydraulic Fracturing – Framing the Water IssuebyOlsson,Lindstrom, andHoffman (41), concluded that: • ‘The emergence of shale gas and shale oil has quickly changed the landscape of opportunities for energy provision and security in different regions of theworld. • ‘Fracking is a water-intensive activity, and, as the (shale) reserves are often found in dry areas, extraction poses additional challenges in what are often already water- stressed environments. The vast water quantities needed over the life span of a shale gaswell, wherewater is used to fracture rock under high pressure, pile further stress on Water,Energy, andEnvironment–APrimer82