20 May 2011

"Fracking" explained

Those not familiar with the problem might want to view or read about "Gasland." It's also illustrated vividly in this brief clip:

3 comments:

  1. This is always all over the news here in PA. Luckily I'm in the south and the gas mines are hours away...but I do still feel bad for the people who fell prey to those shysters.

    The state is bringing action against some of them for cutting corners when they made the wells.

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  2. Watched "Gasland" a couple of weeks ago, very good documentary. Made by a person who just wanted to find out information. Shocking what he uncovers

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  3. When you live on top of a gas field, you shouldn't be surprised that there is naturally occurring natural gas in your water well. It is just very easy to find blame with others in the hope of a payout - think of the La Brea tar pit in LA where oil and gas seep to the surface.

    Fracking is 70 year old technology implemented over 1 million times in the US WITHOUT a documented case of water well contamination.

    Further, if one were to stop fracking in the US, there would be no drilling as well productivity would be too low to be economic. In that outcome, natural gas prices would exceed $13 per MMBtu.

    The mis-information around fracking is disturbing but driven largely by an environmental community with goals of higher energy prices to further two outcomes: making "green" technologies more economically attractive and to reduce consumption (which assumes that demand is elastic to price).

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