Shale Rock Fracking Keeps U.S. Economy from Cracking

By Russell R. Chianelli, The University of Texas at El Paso, MRTI

In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Stepping on the Gas,” Daniel Yergin, noted for his book The Prize, which covers the rise of the major oil companies, describes how gas from shale rock can lead the United States out of dependence on foreign oil imports.¹  In this article, he discusses how independent energy producers in the Houston, Texas, area have tapped a resource called the Barnett Shale reserve located around Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas. This is now producing massive amounts of natural gas using techniques developed over the past 30 years to open reservoir rocks. Specifically, a technique called fracking expands rock fractures, releasing gas. Fracking has changed the U.S. energy equation. As part of the so-called Unconventional Natural-Gas Revolution, the technique has turned a natural gas shortage into a surplus, resulting in lowering of the price of natural gas. It is now estimated that the United States has a resource base of natural gas across the country of 2,500 trillion cubic feet (see Reference 2 for worldwide production). This makes it probable that the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas.

Fracking has critics who speak about threats to groundwater and the handling of water recovered from the operation. However, the industry states that they have a long, untarnished safety record. In an accompanying article titled “The Road to Clean Energy?” environmentalist Mark Brownstein discusses the risks and appeals to the industry to allay such fears. Besides the obvious direct uses of natural gas for energy applications, the abundance of natural gas also offers opportunities to the catalytic materials community to convert it to useful transportation liquids. Future blog entries will discuss this in more detail.

1. D. Yergin, “Stepping on the Gas,” The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday, April 2-3, 2011;
2. M. Brownstein, “The Road to Clean Energy?,” The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday, April 2-3, 2011;

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[Dr. Ray Orbach]

Dear Russ: Nicely done. I would add to your conclusion that natural gas per se may be used for transportation fuels. The advent of MOFs (metal organic frameworks) means that one can store at least twice as much natural gas as in the gas phase at the same temperature and pressure (it may be three times as much). This would extend the range of passenger vehicles to 200 to 300 miles, making natural gas a reasonable transportation fuel. Also, in terms of cost, for the same BTU, natural gas is 1/4 the cost of oil (that is, for a million BTU, at $4, the energy content would scale as $25/barrel oil). Thanks, Ray

[John]

There are numerous environmental impacts with shale gas drilling, starting with water. Gas companies swarmed into Pennsylvania a few years ago to start drilling into the Marcellus Shale, persuading landowners to lease their rights to shale under their properties. Many have at the prospect of riches, but some have hesitated due to concern of ground water contamination that can result from leaky pits where the flowback water is held or from damaged or weak well casings. Often the industry has denied their role in specific cases where well water, spring water or streams have been contaminated, but sometimes they acknowledge the problem where it's pretty clear that damage has been done directly at their hands, e.g., see http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11156/1151527-503.stm#ixzz1OSashMkz

Not just ground water, but our rivers are at risk due to the dumping of fracking waste water at sewage treatment plants, which were never configured for the types of contaminants present (and no one is really sure what all is in the waste water since the industry has been reluctant to divulge the ingredients used in the "slick" that they create for the drilling operations). The Monongahela and Allegheny rivers have been found recently to contain higher levels of bromide that are causing concern for public water suppliers. See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11072/1131660-113.stm

Bromide causes formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) when exposed to disinfectant processes in water treatment plants. In trying to prevent the THMs, the water authority in Carmichaels, PA cut back on the chlorine used which then caused algae and particulate levels to grow. The DEP shut down the water authority temporarily, in order to investigate this problem while residents were told to boil their water. See http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_731810.html

I’m afraid that this industry is moving faster than the science or regulation and we’re going to learn the hard way in Pennsylvania about the dangers and risks of shale gas drilling. Meanwhile, New York is considering a ban on all shale fracking until June next year while studying the issue. See http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/politics/23980