Few words create division and controversy like the nickname given to the oil industry’s most lucrative 21st century trend…
Known as hydraulic fracturing, the term fracking has been used to demonize as well as promote the practice of using high-pressure water injection to squeeze crude oil and natural gas from soft shale oil formations all across North America.
The benefits this method offers are unparalleled.
Capable of unlocking billions — and eventually, as drilling technology advances, perhaps trillions — of barrels of crude lying dormant within geological formations dotting the continent, fracking has ushered in what many are calling a second golden age for fossil fuel production in North America.
Unfortunately, as with most things that bring enormous potential for improvement, fracking also comes with a cost.
It’s this cost that has already led to an outcry from the environmentalist community — and even a moratorium (now in its sixth year) on the practice in the state of New York.
Burning Water — Direct from Your Tap!
This moratorium (and much of the argument against fracking in general) finds its roots in a particularly frightening scene, which has been viewed online millions of times since first making news some years ago.
It goes something like this…
A faceless narrator standing over his running tap brings a lit match up to the mouth of the spigot, and suddenly, the stream of water bursts into flames as if the liquid pouring forth isn’t water at all, but some sort of gasoline.
Since making the news, the same exact scene has been repeated, filmed, and posted online dozens of times.
There really isn’t much need for explanation or even outrage, as it speaks for itself. And sadly, this isn’t a trick. It’s not homemade special effects that lead to the rather unpleasant side effect, but rather contaminated wastewater bleeding back into the residential water supply of homes close to fracking sites.
Of course, the dramatic effect seen in these videos is itself an exaggeration. Flammable tap water problems only occur in homes that are close to fracking sites: .6 miles from a well and closer, according to a study done at Duke University.
This fact isn’t quite as exciting as the burning water itself, however; and so it’s rarely mentioned alongside the images and footage that have become beacons to the anti-fracking movement from California to New York.
Underground Lakes of Contaminants
At the heart of the problem is the amount of water required to run a hydraulic fracturing well: as much as one to five million gallons (which is typically not reused once its been contaminated by industrial chemicals necessary to the process).
The water is pumped down, oftentimes to a depth of a mile or more underground, pressurized to break up the shale, and then pumped back up again into open holding pools, or ponds, where it is stored until it can be injected into underground caverns for permanent holding.
It’s during this storage process that the water, which can sometimes contain very high concentrations of natural gas, can seep into the ground and commingle with groundwater that feeds nearby communities.
The result can literally be incendiary. Even more terrifying is the prospect of an earthquake potentially rupturing one of these subterranean storage basins, allowing for untold volumes of tainted water to mix with clean groundwater.
And it’s not only the environmentalist groups that are using this very visible problem as a call to action…
Wastewater Scrubbers to the Rescue
General Electric (NYSE: GE) is currently testing a new application of a process known as membrane distillation to scrub the wastewater from this process of harmful toxins, including the highly flammable gas that can turn a kitchen sink into an impromptu fireworks show.
The process, which has been widely used to desalinate salt and brackish water in the past, has proven to be effective at removing a wide spectrum of impurities dissolved in high concentrations in fracking wastewater.
Called membrane desalination because it uses semi-permeable membranes to gradually filter out contaminants, it’s a technique that is not new to commercial drinking water filtration. In fact, you may know it better as reverse osmosis.
The process is still in its test phase for this particular application.
However, according to GE, individual devices will eventually achieve the capacity to clean more than 40,000 gallons per day (per site), allowing for the reuse of water — and thus a huge decrease in storage requirements.
Less contaminated water in the ground means less contaminated water seeping into water supplies — and therefore, less burning spigots in the future.
Currently, this new industrial application of membrane desalination is still being tested by GE on volumes of water no greater than 2,500 gallons. This is set to grow in the near future, as the need for a viable and permanent solution to the water contamination issues plaguing hydraulic fracturing becomes a real concern for oil producers.
Ultimately, the prospect for a cleaner, more sustainable fracking industry in North America will benefit us all… and help to ensure that the United States maintains a trend of expansion in the global fossil fuel market.
To Your Wealth,
Brian Hicks for Wealth Daily
