Can Fracking Usher in an Era of Energy Independence?

Can Fracking Usher in an Era of Energy Independence? by Post Carbon Institute, September 28, 2012, ecowatch
Post Carbon Institute‘s Fossil Fuels Fellow David Hughes is currently researching and writing Drill, Baby, Drill: Can Unconventional Fossil Fuels Usher in an Era of Energy Independence? Slated for a January 2013 release, the report findings refute fossil fuel industry claims that unconventional supplies of oil and gas in North America will provide vast quantities of useful energy, be environmentally benign, create jobs and provide a robust economic boost. While impacted communities and environmental activists are raising the alarm over the environmental and health impacts offracking and production of bitumen in the Alberta tar sands, the key argument used by oil and gas proponents—that these resources can usher in a whole new golden era of energy independence and security—hasn’t really been challenged. That’s where our report comes in.

Hughes’ previous report, Will Natural Gas Fuel the 21st Century?, has been downloaded more than 17,000 times by citizens, advocates and government officials. The report states:
… Shale gas is characterized by high-cost, rapidly depleting wells that require high energy and water inputs. There is considerable controversy about the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on the contamination of surface water and groundwater, as well as the disposal of toxic drilling fluids produced from the wells. A moratorium has been placed on shale gas drilling in New York State. Other analyses place the marginal cost of shale gas production well above current gas prices, and above the EIA’s price assumptions for most of the next quarter century. An analysis of the EIA’s gas production forecast reveals that record levels of drilling will be required to achieve it, along with incumbent environmental impacts. Full-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas may also be worse than previously understood, and possibly worse than coal.

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