Green Fracking

It is no secret that the 2005 Energy Policy Act provided the oil and gas industry with exemptions from many health provisions including the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. It is also alarming that groundwater pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing was not acknowledged by the US Environmental Protection Agency until as late as June 2015. However, since 2009 US congress brought in FRAC Act as a legislative proposal that states fracking as a federally regulated activity under the Safe Drinking Water Act. But is it possible to make fracking a greener source of energy? There are many mitigation strategies currently being tested in order to reduce the known environmental impacts of drilling for shale gas.

GasFrac has developed a way to frack without the use of water by using a gelled fluid containing propane. It retains the sand much better than water does meaning it’s possible to get the same amount of gas with only 1/8 the amount of liquid. Recycling used water or brine can also reduce the industries pressure on water resources. However, incentives for companies to use these strategies are reduced due to the incredibly low costs of freshwater.

There have recently been efforts to plug methane leaks as new equipment is being installed by the EPA in oil and gas wells to capture any gases that escape. This is because methane (the main component of natural gas) is the largest greenhouse gas contributor to climate change so this act hopes to make fracking more environmentally sustainable with fewer impacts. It is estimated by the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) that this could reduce methane emissions in the industry by up to 80%. There are also plans to convert natural gas into useable power as close to the fracking site as possible in order to reducetransport and therefore reduce leakage potential. 

However, not all solutions require such extreme technological advancements, it is possible to reduce methane emissions and leakage just by maintaining equipment already in use to avoid rotting and cracks etc. So small improvements can be made every day to make fracking a natural gas a greener and more sustainable source of energy.