What Is Fracking And Why It Generates So Many Protests

According to its defenders, it is a technique that responds to the growing demand for energy with cleaner resources than coal. Its detractors consider it a serious risk to health and the environment: fracking, for some the new frontier in terms of fuels, promises controversy for years to come.

The extraction of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing has already had a strong impact in the United States, to the point that this country could achieve energy self-sufficiency in 2035, according to the International Energy Agency.

But fracking continues to generate protests not only in the US but in other nations such as the United Kingdom and Argentina, and it is prohibited in France and in the state of New York itself.

What Is Fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a technique that allows the extraction of so-called shale gas, a type of unconventional hydrocarbon that is literally trapped in layers of rock, at great depths (see animation above and graphic on the right).

After drilling into the shale rock, large amounts of water with chemical additives and sand are injected under high pressure to fracture the rock and release the gas, methane. When the gas begins to flow back, it does so with part of the fluid injected at high pressure.

Hydraulic fracturing is not new. In the UK it has been used to exploit conventional hydrocarbons since the 1950s. But only recently has the advancement of technology and horizontal drilling allowed the large-scale expansion of fracking, especially in the US, to exploit unconventional hydrocarbons.

What Is The Difference Between Conventional And Unconventional Hydrocarbons?

Some fear for the possible effects of fracking on the environment.

In the case of conventional hydrocarbons, “the gas has migrated from the bedrock to an oil trap and once that trap is drilled, the hydrocarbons come to the surface because they are under pressure,” says Luis Surez. “This is the normal situation in the Gulf of Mexico, Venezuela and the North Sea,” he explained.

But in the case of unconventional hydrocarbons such as shale gas, the gas has not migrated to a reservoir and extracting it requires fracturing the rock.

“What the fracking technique does is introduce high-pressure water into the bedrock together with chemical additives to fracture the rock. It’s the same gas, what happens is that the conventional one hasn’t migrated,” Suez explained.

What Are The Risks?

Critics of fracking point to possible water contamination due to chemical additives and methane leaks, the gas extracted from shale rock, and the occurrence of earthquakes among its main risks.

In its 2012 report, the UK Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, noted that risks to health, safety and the environment “can be managed effectively in the UK provided best practices are in place.” operational practices, which must be applied and monitored”, explained to BBC Mundo one of the authors of the report, Richard Selley, emeritus professor of petroleum geology at Imperial College in London.

Fracking has generated protests in England and other countries.

The report points out that the exploitation of conventional hydrocarbons also carries risks. It also highlights that the first portion of the tubing in the case of fracking must be covered with a triple layer of steel and cement to protect the aquifers, which are shallower than the layer of shale rock.

But Anthony Ingraffea, professor of engineering at Cornell University in the US, told BBC Mundo that “the best operational practices can only minimize risks, not eliminate them,” adding that “even today we see that at least 5% of the new wells being built in the United States have methane leaks.

Ingraffea also pointed out that the recent floods in Colorado highlighted the vulnerability of the fracking industry’s infrastructure.

For its part, the ICOG affirms that fracking is compatible with the protection of the environment. “We are against maximalist positions of fracking yes, fracking no, we say, ‘fracking? It depends…'” Surez said.

“We are in favor of the investigation of the territories to search for unconventional hydrocarbons, but strictly complying with the environmental legislation that comes from the European Union through directives that are introduced into domestic law by the environmental impact legislation,” added the president. of the ICOG.

What Chemical Additives Are Used?

In the United States each state decides whether companies must make this information public, although the industry has established a voluntary database on the Fracfocus site.

One of the main problems pointed out by critics is what happens to the so-called wastewater.

Once the gas starts flowing, between 25% and 75% of the fracturing fluid with additives that was injected at high pressure returns to the surface, the Royal Society pointed out last year in its report on fracking.

One of the most delicate problems is how to store or dispose of this wastewater, also called reflux water.

“The potential toxicity of wastewater is difficult to assess because many chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing fluid are undisclosed trade secrets,” Trevor Penning, head of the University of Pennsylvania toxicology center, told.

Who Currently Benefits From Fracking?

The United States Energy Information Administration, EIA, published the most widely used estimate by analysts of technically recoverable shale gas resources worldwide. (See map to the right)

Countries like China, Argentina, Mexico, and Algeria have considerable resources, but at the moment the United States, with its vast oil industry, has not only more than a decade of experience in fracking for unconventional hydrocarbons, but a virtual monopoly in the domain. of technology.

“The United States is likely to become the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas by the end of 2013, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia,” the EIA reported earlier this year.

Some 6,000 gas wells have been drilled with fracking since 2005, according to Susan Brantley, director of the Institute for Earth and Environmental Systems at Pennsylvania State University.

In the UK, Richard Selley says that as North Sea crude production is in decline, “it would be irresponsible for a government not to promote shale gas extraction.”

In the case of Latin America, where several countries have signed agreements with US companies for the exploitation of hydrocarbons, environmental groups expressed concern about the possible use and impact of hydraulic fracturing.

“What worries me in South America is that there are certain multinational companies that, taking advantage of the administration’s lack of power, exploit the environment, affecting the environment,” Luis Surez told BBC Mundo, adding that ICOG is conducting training courses online about fracking for your geologists in South America.

In the opinion of the English geologist, Latin American governments must establish monitoring systems “with competent technicians who are absolutely distant from the economic point of view of the companies.”

The United States could achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency.