Hydraulic Fracturing: Let’s stay positive
If we are not willing to reduce our energy consumption, then maybe natural gas is our safest next move.
The truth of this hydraulic fracturing debate is that Americans are not eager to reduce their energy consumption anytime soon, and there certainly is no eagerness to enforce a reduction in energy consumption either. Any federal regulation, any alteration to the way life is carried out, even if it is a change towards a more sustainably fueled future takes time.
In the meantime, our use of electricity, running water and heating in our homes, as well as our modes of transportation are each sustained with fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry will continue to strive and will continue to find new technologies for production for as long as the dependency for fossil energy continues to deepen as the human population continues to increase. This demand for energy come with a price towards the environment in many forms, one of them being greenhouse gases that encourage global warming.
The inventory of U.S greenhouse gas emission and sinks conducted by U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported carbon dioxide from 2013 to account for “about 82% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities”, the main sources of the carbon dioxide being factors of electricity (37%) and transportation (31%).
Why not meet our high demands of fossil fuel energy with the “cleaner-than-coal” alternative of natural gas? Many might respond with comments on environmental health, and although crucial, the argument is simply that natural gas is too valuable of a resource to pass up. We will focus on two reasons: climate benefits and economic productivity.
The U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that since 2008 around the time of the popularization of hydraulic fracturing, carbon dioxide emissions from coal, petroleum and other liquids began a general decline.
Notably the decline in coal emissions has “contributed to a lower carbon intensity of U.S. energy consumption”, which according to the report can be contributed to coal’s trait of releasing greater amounts of carbon dioxide per Btu of energy burned. Without dispute, it can also be noted in the report that natural gas emissions have risen since 2009. This increase reflects primarily its “growth in the natural gas share of electricity generation” as natural gas has displaced coal-fired energy generation. Because natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fuel, substitution of natural gas for other fossil fuel inputs has served to mitigate overall carbon dioxide growth in the energy sector.
The climate benefits of natural gas are sensitive. A gradual switch from coal to natural gas in the electric power generation sector would be a sustainable goal that optimizes the efficiency of both natural gas and well development. The key in this decision is to view natural gas as a bridge, as a temporary means to obtain energy until proper accommodations are made to properly sustain and store green energy alternatives, such as solar energy.
Terry Engelder, a professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, says that “fracking is crucial to global economic stability. The economic benefits outweigh the environmental risks.” Professor Engelder speaks with much confidence of the potential for natural gas to serve our nation as an energy source that consumers can reap benefits from. In the years of true hydraulic fracturing popularization between 2007 and 2013, the national gas bill for consumers dropped by $13 billion, an average of about $200 per gas consuming household, per year as a result of the efficient extraction of gas resources.
Continued extraction of natural gas will allow the United States to begin establishing some fossil fuel independency from other countries, resulting in economic fluidity within the country boundaries. Between the years of 2007 and 2011, the import of natural gas from other countries decreased by 25 percent and the imports of petroleum decreased by 4.78 quadrillion Btu. According to the projections of the American Enterprise Institute, the United States has the potential of becoming “a net exporter of natural gas”. This transition from importer to exporter has provided a total of 870,000 jobs thus far that are directly involved with hydraulic fracturing drilling operations, and does not take into consideration indirect jobs within the energy sector.
“I believe that there is enough domestic gas to meet our needs for the foreseeable future thanks to technological advances in hydraulic fracturing,” says Engelder optimistic about the future in natural gas. One thing is for sure; for as long as our nation remains energy dependent on fossil fuel,then there will exist a demand for fossil fuel alternatives.
