What Is Fracking And What Are Its Benefits?
Fracking is a new way to access the natural deposits of gas and oil buried deep inside the earth. The process involved for fracking or hydraulic fracturing entails injecting a combination of sand, water and chemicals into gas or oil at high pressures in order to fracture the shale rocks for releasing the natural gas inside. Fracking is an environmental as well as a political issue. It is inaccessible, and there is a way to have access to it from deep down the earth to gain the precious fossil fuels to heat our homes, cook our food etc. And this can be done by automated frac equipment. It can also have a huge impact on nature. But there are many benefits to it too, like:
- Access to more gas and oil
Fracking lets us access the natural deposit of gas buried deep down below and used when all other traditional methods of extractions have not been useful. As fracking lets us to drill thousands of feet into the ground to gain access to the gas buried deep, we have access to more gas. This makes the gas cheaper due to its abundance. While oil still being expensive, gas will get cheaper all over the world. This also helps in heating the house at reasonable prices.
- Increase in employment opportunities
As the natural gas production is increasing day by day, the number of people being hired in the production and delivery activities has also increased. There are an abundant number of oil and natural gas deposits that are still needed to be tapped, and for the same it will increase the number of people to hire in the extraction. This will give rise to employment as well.
- Reduction in air pollution levels
One of the common complaints about fossil fuels is that they cause a lot of air pollution. When oil and coal are burnt, they tend to release a lot of carbon dioxide in the air that leads to an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are slowly causing global warming. Apart from carbon dioxide, coal also releases toxic compounds and elements in air like sulfur which is of course poisonous. On the other hand, burning gas doesn’t release as much carbon dioxide into the air. In other words, more gas you burn when compared to oil or coal, the better your air quality would be. This also helps in reducing the amount of greenhouse emissions in the air and hence slowing global warming down.
