Natural Gas Is Less Polluting Than Coal or Other Fossil Fuels Essay

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Hydraulic Fracking Issues

There has been a great deal of controversy over the technique called hydraulic fracking, which environmentalists and others have claimed it is a dangerous procedure to extract natural gas from the earth. The industry insists it is safe, and recently the Environmental Protection Agency issued research that indicates fracking can be safely done. What is hydraulic fracking? Fracking is a procedure in which water is injected under high pressure into a "bedrock formation," which in turn releases natural gas that has been trapped in rock formations (USGS). This paper points out the benefits of hydraulic fracking

Main Body of the Paper on Hydraulic Fracking

Fracking involves a process where water is mixed with chemicals and "fine sands, then pumped at extremely high pressure into the shale rock," which fractures the rock, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Once the rock below the surface of the earth is fractured, it forms " ... pathways for the ... gas to reach the well"; the water is then recovered as well as the natural gas (USGS).

Why is natural gas a good solution to global climate change? The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) explains that burning natural gas for energy " ...

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results in fewer emissions of nearly all types of air pollutions and carbon dioxide" (EO2). Natural gas has less greenhouse gas emissions than coal or other petroleum products, in fact, for every million British thermal units (Btu) burned of natural gas about 117 pounds of carbon dioxide is produced (EIA). And carbon dioxide is the main culprit in climate change, which is causing the earth to warm up and is melting the ice fields, which in turn causes oceans to rise to dangerous levels in many areas of the world. Other pollutants that are emitted from burning fossil fuels include: mercury, coal ash, arsenic.

Comparing the 117 pounds of CO2 produced (per million Btu) by burning natural gas to other energy forms shows clearly the advantage of natural gas. By burning a million Btu of coal, over 200 pounds of CO2 is produced (EIA). Over the past ten years, about 81% of the new electrical generation systems have been powered by natural gas (Grace Communications, 2015). Also, the increase in supplies of natural gas helps to lower its price on the market. In fact In July, 2008, natural gas cost over $12 per MMBtu; but.....

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