Exploring the Benefits and Drawbacks of Shale Gas

Beneath the surface, a vast reservoir of gas exists, capable of burning cleanly and potentially reducing the U.S.'s reliance on foreign energy. However, accessing it is a challenging process.

Shale gas lies about 5,000 feet underground. To extract it, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids, which may include dangerous chemicals, are injected into the ground along with water and sand under immense pressure. The result is "a highly saline brine, susceptible to bacterial growth, and possibly contaminated with heavy metals," as reported by National Geographic in its series on shale gas.

Additionally, the substantial water required for shale drilling can strain water supplies for other uses, potentially harming aquatic ecosystems. Fracking also generates millions of gallons of wastewater, which can overwhelm treatment facilities. In the past, improperly treated wastewater has been found discharged into river basins, leading to environmental pollution. There's also the risk that fracking fluids could leak into aquifers if a well casing fails, endangering groundwater supplies.

The negative impacts extend beyond that. Drilling operations can disrupt daily life, from increased noise caused by transporting materials, building facilities, and the drilling process itself, to air quality degradation due to diesel exhaust. Moreover, drilling could compromise communities' access to clean water, leading to additional expenses for transporting and storing water from alternative sources.

However, there’s a reason why both the private and public sectors have been keen to tap into this energy source.

Shale gas has already created over half a million new jobs. In Pennsylvania, home to the Marcellus shale that has fueled a natural gas boom, experts project the addition of 200,000 new jobs by 2020. Moreover, the average salary for an oil and gas worker is around $60,000—50 percent higher than the state's average private-sector wage.

Shale rock contains vast amounts of natural gas, with over 1,000 trillion cubic tons recoverable in North America alone. After a decade of drilling and fracking, the U.S. now enjoys affordable access to shale gas. By 2009, 87 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. was produced domestically, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This means the U.S. is no longer dependent on external sources for shale gas. With current consumption rates, shale resources could last over 100 years. Some predict that shale could help the U.S. become a net gas exporter within the next decade. This is also advantageous for chemical companies that rely on natural gas, prompting companies like Dow Chemical to invest more heavily in the U.S. than overseas.

Although the extraction of oil may have significant environmental consequences, natural gas stands out for one environmental advantage. As the cleanest fossil fuel, natural gas combustion produces significantly lower amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide compared to coal or oil. When used in efficient combined-cycle power plants, natural gas carbon emissions are half those of oil.