Shale And The Shale Gas Boom

What is Marcellus Shale? It is a marine sedimentary rock buried thousands of feet beneath the earths surfaces. Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups and is formed in four main ways: by the deposition of the weathered remains of other rocks; by the accumulation and the consolidation of sediments; by the deposition of the results of biogenic activity; and by precipitation from solution. Marcellus Shale is found throughout the Allegheny Plateau region of the northern Appalachian basin of North America. It stretches from upstate New York south through Pennsylvania to West Virginia and west to parts of Ohio. Marcellus shale was named after a town in upstate New York, the rock itself is millions of years old, formed from mud and other natural materials. Its made up of the formation of black shale that may contain lime stone beds and concentrations of iron pyrite and siderite. The Sedimentary beds and structure is very well developed. Lighter colored shales in the upper portion of the formation tend to split into small thin edged fragments after exposure. The fragments may have and leave rust stains from exposure of pyrite to air, and tiny gypsum crystals from the reaction between both of the fragments pyrite and the limestone particles. Fresh exposures of the pyriteiferous shale may develop the secondary mineralization of orange limonite and the pale yellow efflorescence or bloom of sulfur, associated with acid

Given fracking’s youth and considering its only significant sites are in the US, research is largely confined on the Marcellus region which runs across two-thirds of Pennsylvania and extends into other states (MSTEC 2011) or the Barnet region in Texas.

Children’s literature is the precedent for the development of all children. Children’s literature varies from poetry to children’s picture books. Every aspect of children’s literature gives an ability to grow a child mentally and develop their ideas and imagination. In early literature, children were romanized to be perfect and well behaved. Author Maurice Sendak counters the idea of a perfect child in his book “Where The Wild Things Are”. Sendak uses his picture book to illustrate a child’s ability to have feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration. The interviewer, Patrick F. Roughen of Red Feather Journal states that“Where the Wild Things Are (1963) contains some of the earliest attempts in children’s literature to represent the intrapsychic challenges of the lives of children. Anger, frustration, and the complexities of parent-child relationships can be found throughout its pages”. “Where the Wild Things Are” reinforces the idea that children are capable of emotions that one would imagine are only depicted in the adult world.

The Eagle Ford Shale is located in South Texas, stretching from the boarder of Mexico from just north of Laredo to about 50 miles northwest of Houston, covering a 9,500 mi2 area (Scanlon). It lies about 50 miles west of Austin and 25 miles south of San Antonio. The dimensions of the Eagle Ford Shale are about 50 miles wide and stretching 400 miles long. The Eagle Ford Shale is one of the most oil rich parts of Texas but yet is still one of the driest with only 21 inches of rainfall a year at the heart of the shale, Carrizo Springs. The reason we are interested in this area is to discuss the very fast growing industry of Hydraulic Fracking and its environmental impact. To understand why this area is so rich in oil and natural gas we must

In The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore, the theme—giving in to temptation is a pitfall to moving forward—is present throughout the text. The theme was present through characters being desperate and having a reckless mindset. A dire need for Odysseus’ men to eat caused their downfall. After Odysseus and his men finish the food on their ship, they begin to starve, which prompts Eurylochos and the rest of Odysseus’ crew to break their oath and “cut out the best of Helios’ cattle” because “hunger is the sorriest way to die and encounter fate” (Homer, XII, 342-343). Slowly, Odysseus’ men gave into the temptation of dying to anything besides hunger, which is the sorriest way to encounter fate, and killed Helios’ most prized cattle,

Natural gas is a fossil fuel that plays a critical role in the demand and supply of energy in the United States. It is considered to be a clean burning transition fuel. Compared to coal and oil, natural gas combustion does not generate as much pollution and is therefore considered an ideal partner for renewable energy resources. Natural gas is extracted from shale formations underground that require horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – “hydrofracking” or “fracking”. This drilling and extraction method is currently considered a global widespread issue due to the rapid increase in the amount of new gas wells that threatens the quality of water around the source (Entriken, Evans-White, Johnson & Hagenbuch, 2011).

These reserves are found within shale formations. Shale is a sedimentary rock that is very low in permeability and porousness making it difficult to tap the gas and oil held within the formations. Due to the combination of fracking and new drilling technology, the production of natural oil and gas has constantly increased every year since 2006. In the year 1990, America reached a height of natural gas and oil production, producing about 70.706 quadrillion BTU of energy but that number would begin to decrease steadily due to the scarcity of acquiring natural gas and oil. In 2006 the production of energy was 69.443 quadrillion BTU. Accordingly, in 2010 fracking became popular and the production level reached 74.812 quadrillion BTU of energy. By 2011, the production of energy increased to 78.091 quadrillion BTU. The domestic production of natural gas and oil had a large contribution towards this growth. With this increase in production, the United states became the second largest natural gas producer in 2011.The European Union which is the third highest producer of natural gas and oil produced only about a quarter of natural gas and oil compared to that produced in the United

The Marcellus Shale rock formation harbors the largest natural gas reserve that runs from New York to Tennessee. (Federman 2010 p.35) The only way to extract the natural gas is to use the process of hydrofracking. The process of hydrofracking uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to drill and fracture the Marcellus Shale to extract the natural gas. Clean water is used from local aquifers to produce the water mixture called “slurry” which is made up of 99% clean water (Rush 2010 p.28). The slurry additives are described in the journal article “In the Wake of the Shale Revolution: A Primer on Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemical Disclosure” as, 3

In the State of Pennsylvania, a huge shale natural gas deposit has been found that could hold an even larger chance for growth in energy production in the United States. This natural gas deposit called the Marcellus shale deposit actually “stretches 1,000 miles from New York to Virginia and is 300 miles across at the widest point” (Grottenthaler 2011). Most of this formation of shale natural gas lies in the Pennsylvania portion of the shale natural gas deposit containing roughly “$500 billion in recoverable gas” (Finkel 2011). Not only is this great for the economy in Pennsylvania, it is also a great sign for the economy in the rest of the United States as well. According to many experts on the

Ultimately, it will be the Member States that will decide to engage in shale gas exploration and extraction. If Member States decide to do so, the information gathered by the European Commission about the advantages and difficulties of shale gas extraction should be influential. Moreover, the EU Member States could learn from the US experience. With appropriate legislation, pollution risks can be minimised, although some environmental disruption and disturbance will be unavoidable. Whether that is tolerable will be for the Member States and their local communities to decide.83 And it is becoming increasingly clear that advocates of shale gas extraction will need to convince the European public, which is still deeply sceptical that shale gas

This is a positive effect since almost all of our oil and energy comes from foreign entities. With this method, we can now supply a greater amount of our own energy and become more self-sufficient. With more wells being opened there comes more employment opportunities, from the drilling site to the transportation of products. The increase of natural gas production has started a decline in the consumption of coal energy. The drop in the burning of coal produces less carbon dioxide (CO2). Natural gas produces about half of the CO2 than that of coal making it a better choice.

In the United States; most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and in Texas are said to contain enough natural gas power the country for 110 years. In 2000, shale beds provided 1 percent of America’s natural gas supply. Today, that figure stands at nearly 25 percent. Most of that population increase is due to the growing popularity of hydraulic fracturing. With the enticing specter of energy independence in the balance, some have argued that such efforts to recover gas need to be expanded. While some activists believe that fracking’s potential environment hazards view the process as a serious threat. Water makes up a high percentage of fracking fluid that fluid also flows back up the well, and is stored in open pits until it can be sent to a treatment plant. A variable amount of

The Marcellus shale has been one of the most important developments in gas production over the past few years. Having a good understanding of what this gigantic gas reservoir can do to shape the future of the natural gas industry is vital to understanding today’s U.S. economy. The Marcellus shale has rich black organic shale with low density,and it is located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. In addition, small areas of Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee,

Hydraulic fracturing, which is more commonly known as “fracking”, is a term that many people may have heard about, but actually have very little knowledge on. Fracking is a topic that is highly controversial between people who work in the industry, scientists, and environmental professionals. Fracking has been around for a long time, but it’s only been in the past thirty years that it’s really taken off in what is known as the shale gas boom. As our sources of energy dwindle down it becomes important to consider our future and look into new sources of affordable and sustainable energy. People in the fracking industry praise the many benefits of hydraulic fracking, saying that is already being used to offset much of our current energy costs, and many consider it to be the future of all of our energy needs.

An additional benefit of fracking is that natural gas reduces overall greenhouse-gas emissions. As with all fossil fuels, burning natural gas produces CO2. However, CO2 emissions from natural gas are 50% lower than coal, and between 20% and 30% lower than oil (Howarth, Ingraffea, & Engelder, 2011). Also, the increase in production and availability of fracking-related natural gas has made it an economical alternative to traditional fossil fuels such as coal and oil for electrical power generation plants. Moreover, the combination of lower CO2 production from natural gas together with its widespread adoption as a