New natural-gas drilling technology developed by Canadian company GasFrac removes water from the controversial drilling method known as "hydraulic fracturing" and replaces it with a thick gel made of propane. Brian Nearing of the Albany Times Union and Anthony Brino of InsideClimate News report the likelihood of environmental harm is decreased with liquified propane gas fracturing, or "gas fracking," because there's no risk of tainted drilling water being mishandled and threatening human health and the environment.
The use of hydraulic fracturing has recently been a topic of much controversy in many rural areas, and state and local regulations have been drafted or passed-to limit use of the method. (U.S. Energy Information Administration map shows shales with gas; click map for larger version)
Nearing and Brino report that gas fracking works similarly to hydraulic fracturing, pumping sand or man-made materials into shale formations where gas is trapped under high pressure to fracture the shale and release the gas. Under the high pressure and heat, the propane gel turns to vapor and returns to the surface with the gas, free of drilling chemicals and underground radioactive material. Once on the surface, it's collected and reused.
Though the method is still relatively new, it already has strong proponents such as David Burnett, professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University, who told Nearing and Brino that gas fracking "can serve two ends—protecting the environment and reducing costs to the drilling industry of handling and disposing of tainted water." He said there's no reason the method can't be effective.
The industry, however, is waiting to measure the exact effectiveness of the method before changing its approach to drilling. GasFrac Chief Technology Officer Robert Lestz told Nearing and Brino that only time would tell whether or not gas fracking will "make inroads in a global drilling industry that began using water-based fracking in the late 1940s and since has invested vast amounts in that technology." Hydrofracking is currently the most widely used gas well drilling method in the world. Said Lestz: "The infrastructure is already there for water, people have already put millions into it. Sometimes the good is the enemy of the great." (Read more)
Nearing and Brino report that gas fracking works similarly to hydraulic fracturing, pumping sand or man-made materials into shale formations where gas is trapped under high pressure to fracture the shale and release the gas. Under the high pressure and heat, the propane gel turns to vapor and returns to the surface with the gas, free of drilling chemicals and underground radioactive material. Once on the surface, it's collected and reused.
Though the method is still relatively new, it already has strong proponents such as David Burnett, professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University, who told Nearing and Brino that gas fracking "can serve two ends—protecting the environment and reducing costs to the drilling industry of handling and disposing of tainted water." He said there's no reason the method can't be effective.
The industry, however, is waiting to measure the exact effectiveness of the method before changing its approach to drilling. GasFrac Chief Technology Officer Robert Lestz told Nearing and Brino that only time would tell whether or not gas fracking will "make inroads in a global drilling industry that began using water-based fracking in the late 1940s and since has invested vast amounts in that technology." Hydrofracking is currently the most widely used gas well drilling method in the world. Said Lestz: "The infrastructure is already there for water, people have already put millions into it. Sometimes the good is the enemy of the great." (Read more)
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