The Danger Lurking Underground

It seems a while ago that we first heard about the controversial technique of Hydraulic Fracturing, or  'Fracking,' as a way of extracting Shale gas from the ground, yet the issue has not gone away, and with the Green Party still left with just one MP after Thursday's election, the danger is only likely to increase.

So is fracking really all bad? Supposedly fracking could be worth over £1.1 billion across the UK over the course of around a decade, and given that the gas and oil companies have a scheme involving huge economic benefits for the local communities, it is unsurprising that David Cameron has said fracking is "good for the UK."

However, if for a moment we consider this issue from an unselfish point of view, we might be able to see past the potential money in the fracking industry and remember that we are currently facing many serious issues regarding our environment and climate change.

The process of fracking involves pumping numerous harmful chemicals (up to 330 tons per well) into the ground in order to force the gas out of the ground. This might not be so bad if it was not for the fact that so many of these chemical leak into the ground. It has been found that 5-7% of all new fracking sites leak, and that in the long term every well will leak. This has disastrous effects on the local community, because these chemicals contaminate the ground and the water supply, and have consequently been linked to higher incidences of cancer along with other illnesses across the country. Not only does the process of fracking pollute our water supply, it also uses millions of gallons of water during the process itself, thereby wasting our precious water supply.

Furthermore, perhaps the strangest thing of all is the fact that once we have extracted this gas and oil through fracking, we then proceed to burn it as we normally do with fossil fuels. This only adds to the growing amount of pollution in the world, and as we all know, unleashing this carbon dioxide has a detrimental effect on out environment. Moreover this is not even a long term solution to our energy crisis, it has been shown in the US that the supply of this type of gas and oil has already peaked after just a decade of exploitation, meaning this process is far less efficient than our North Sea oil for example, and also requires more and more wells to be drilled to keep up with demand.

I personally believe that the cons far outweigh the pros of fracking, and I cannot believe that any economic gain is worth destroying our planet in this way; after all, without sounding too extreme, if we carry on like this, our planet may no longer be inhabitable, and I can't see the economy being important under those circumstances....

Written by Lili



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/fracking/11224097/Fracking-wont-cut-bills-and-ministers-oversold-shale-gas-benefits-experts-say.html
http://frack-off.org.uk/fracking-hell/