Fracking Process (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Fracking Process
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Introduction
Fracking process of oil extraction is also referred to as hydraulic fracturing. The fluid is injected into the rock under high pressure that which leads to formations of spaces or fissures within the body of the rock. It also involves horizontal drilling of a rock and pressurized mixture of sand, water and some chemical which reacts with the rock causing the formation of the fissure that stimulates oil and gas flow. This fissures formed facilitate for the extraction of oil and natural gas (Boudet, Bugden, Maibach, Roser, &Leiserowitz, 2014). This method of oil extraction has been found to be the most used method in oil producing countries globally. The report extensively covers the advantages, dangers, implications from an economic, environmental and public relation of fracking method.Advantages of frackingFracking process has increased natural gas in some countries like US by approximately 75% between the year 2011 and 2004 and this trend is expected to continue over periods to come (Boudet, Bugden, Maibach, Roser, &Leiserowitz, 2014). The implication is that gas producing countries will have efficient gas supply to the whole country and export the surplus to the other demanding countries. Some of the sources of energy that were being used traditionally such as coal has now been replaced by the gas produced through fracking process since it has enabled replacement of 10% of the coal that was being used traditionally. Due to fracking, it has been found that the cost of gas has reduced greatly in countries such as the US. The indication is that fracking has reduced the cost of gas produced greatly in the oil producing countries globally. Job opportunities have been created to people through fracking leading to reduced unemployment. Joblessness has been a great threat globally especially to the youths (Holahan, & Arnold, 2013). The addition of more fracking sites for extraction of oil and natural gas will create more job opportunities in the near future. Economic status of countries that use fracking method has increased drastically and will continue to increase due to fracking. Activities such as manufacturing have increased through reduction of energy cost. Such activities have encouraged great investments in production of chemical facilities that rely mostly on natural gas. Cost of transport which has been a negative factor has reduced since trains, heavy trucks and equipments used in the contraction have been designed to use cheap natural gas instead of the initial petroleum products. Application of the fracking process has led to a reduction in environmental pollution. The emission of pollutants to back to the environment has been greatly reduced with the introduction of fracking because natural gas in non-pollutant, unlike the traditional methods. Due to these, a large number of people’s lives have been saved from death due to diseases associated with heating of the earth’s surface. It has led to improvement on the environment globally. Natural gas produced through hydraulic fracturing process is least pollutant to the environment. The above advantages make fracking a suitable process for the extraction of oil and natural gas globally (Cathles, Brown, Taam, & Hunter, 2012)Demerits of frackingFracking is mostly used by the oil and gas producing countries globally. Research has shown that it has some dangers despite it being a potential great energy source producer. This process is accompanied by a problem of high water consumption. A lot of water from rivers and streams locally is used under high pressure to create a fissure. Consequently, some seasonal rivers have dried up, and there is a drop in water level that has caused a decrease in water supply level to the local community. The water lost is not being recycled since it penetrates directly into the ground. The second danger is chemicals that are mixed with water for the gas retrieval and to make the crack open. These chemicals pose a danger to human health and even to the environment. When they are being transported to the drilling sites by trucks for mixing, they might cause explosions when subjected under high temperatures. The mixing process is hazardous and prone to death. Waste water produced is deposited in ponds, and, therefore creating a high risk to the human being and wildlife because of the dangerous chemicals produced. Some of the chemicals such as methane seep into the aquifer from the wells. As a result, drinking water from underground is polluted. To initiate the fracking process, a large acre of land has to be destructed for the construction of wells. The consequence is that there in increased deforestation and hence environmental degradation (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers). Clearing of land due to fracking leads to displacement of people making them acquire new places that they are not familiar to. Lastly, the fracking process has contributed to increased crime rate because most of the workers are youths who after involving in drinking they get into a fight. Decrease in property value has also led to an increase in taxes that are being imposed on the properties of people. Heavy tractors used to transport chemicals destruct roads.Recommendations and justificationRecommendations based on the fracking process of gas and oil extraction is discussed below. To reduce road destruction by the large trucks, other forms of transporting these chemicals should be upheld. Chemicals should be mixed with water and transported through pipeline to minimize road destruction problem. The cost of the fracking process should be optimized to reduce the cost of operation. Properly value should be decreased to create a decrease in property taxes to people. Proper security system should be deployed in the processing sites to reduce the rate of crime rate that are being caused by the youths. Design of a system that can be used to recycle water that seeps into the ground is recommended to avoid pollution of the environment and death as a result of contamination. The rate of water consumption by the whole fracking process should be reduced through water recycling process. Recycling and reusing waste water will ensure sufficient water to the society around thus solving the problem of water inadequacy. My recommendations should be adopted because it’s geared towards reducing the effects that the fracking process has on the environment, economy and people. This recommendation is a solution to the problem and improvement of design of new systems to optimize on the cost of output.Assessment of the readingCanadian association of petroleum producers gives a clear description of the definition of the fracking process (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers). It describes the process of hydraulic fracturing in details that make it easy to understand. Illustrations using diagrams have been made which lay more emphasis on the general process. It defines clearly using diagram how chemicals penetrates into the rock and creates fissure that allows for extraction of oil and the gas. This source also describes clearly how water creates fissures. The source describes the negative effects of the fracking process on the environment. Some of the pros of hydraulic fracturing are highlighted in this source. Even though some of the issues regarding hydraulic fracturing are discussed in this source but some detailed descriptions still lack. Benefits and problems due to fracturing have not been digested. The source does not focus on different countries so that comparison can be made. It narrows down the information regarding fracturing to the country of Canada. The source does not give a clear comparison between different countries.The second source has a lot of information regarding the advantages and dangers of hydraulic fracturing. It describes the advantages based on the economy, people and countries as a whole (Cathles, Brown, Taam, & Hunter, 2012). As a result it is easier to understand the hidden information regarding the hydraulic fracturing. The dangers are also discussed in details making it a better source. This method gives opinion of people regarding the process of hydraulic fracturing making the method a better one. The source was also simple to understand since the ideas laid down are well explained and direct to the point. The source also has citations and therefore it validate and support the ideas that have been laid down. The source also gives a general description of the advantages and challenges of the process without focusing on a particular country. It addresses the issue globally without considering a specific country. Limitation of this source is that it only describes the advantages and challenges faced due to fracking. A good source should in cooperate almost three-quarters of the total content required by the researcher. All these support this source as the best for research.The third source gives the best description of the negative challenges that fracking has on the environment, economy and the human being. It gives simple clarification of some disadvantages related to the same process. It gives a description on how oil producing countries will benefit in the near future in case they maintain to uphold the hydraulic fracturing method. The source also describes how global environment will increase due to fracking. The global economy will also strengthen due to fracking (Boudet, Bugden, Maibach, Roser, &Leiserowitz, 2014). Implications of the hydraulic fracturing on the environment and economy are done in details. The issue has been explicitly described in this source. Limitation of this source is that the study has only been focused on a single country of the US instead of several countries. Therefore, comparison has been found difficult because of a single country that has been used. The process o...