Have you ever heard of hydraulic fracturing? This technology let the US see its natural gas prices fall to the lowest level in years and become one of the leading producers of natural gas!
Presented as totally safe and benign to the environment, the technology is not received quite as well in Europe. Namely, France has vetoed use of hydraulic fracturing on its territory because of environmental concerns.
Nontheless, the american EPA presents the natural gas as “nation’s clean energy future“, but isn’t that clean’s energy past? It’s true that the emissions from burning natural gas are lower that these coming from coal; however, in 21st century, shouldn’t we invest in new technologies that will radically change our economy and help to combat the climate change?
There are many ethical issues concerning hydraulic fracturing. The most important is its impact on water reserves. To perform hydraulic fracturing more than million gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground; many times the drillings take place in zones that suffer from lack of water (Texas, New Mexico) and if a technology is transferred to other, less developed countries, it may limit the resources of drinking water for the local populations.
On the other hand, the industry states that there are little emissions from gas fields. Jeff Tollefson in a study published in Journal Nature proves that it may be false.
So who are the stakeholders of hydraulic fracturing apart from oil and gas industry (and, not surprisingly US government)? Is it really the change we are waiting for? And is it ethical for the US government to present it in such a “glorious” way while the consequences for the environment are still unknown?