The Cons of Drilling for Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing Essay - 1

The Cons of Drilling for Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing - Essay Example The essay "The Cons of Drilling for Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing" talks about the hydraulic fracturing, an industrial process which is water intensive and is used to collect natural gas. And with the examples of multiple basins, the papers will present the environmental implications of hydrofracking in shale gas reservoirs. Before the man could reach the lower part of the crust, shallow wells were dug so as to get the gas. Hydrofracking is the latest method of extracting the gas and it has led to a lot of problems. First, the gases that come out are very poisonous and harmful to human consumption. The ecological imbalance that comes with the drilling process is also very harmful to nature and can lead to the imbalance of nature and all its recourses. Shale gas is the gas that is produced by the shale and there are two functions of the shale. It functions as the reservoir and as the source rock for the natural gas. Due to hydrofracking, many of the shale rocks are known to fracture and this leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem. Hydrofracking involves a lot of pressure that is used so as to bring the gas upwards. The high pressure is of importance and causes the gas to flow upwards, however, the high pressure also has a lot of environmental impacts. It weakens the rocks that are underground when this happens; the result is a weak underground rock structure. This can cause it to sink and hence lead to an earthquake. The main question here is the effect of hydrofracking on the environment.