Tag Archives: fracking

Fracking has had profound effects on the energy industry, so far mostly in the U.S., where it has created oil and gas booms in non-traditional places, moved the country closer to energy independence, and resulted in a huge reduction in the cost of energy, particularly natural gas. What is fracking? It's a technique used to extract oil and gas from previously inaccessible underground shale (rock) formations. Here are 5 more things about fracking.

With everyone being so very busy these days often a picture is worth a 1000 words so I have collected a series of infographics below for you which do just that. You'll get the picture in half the time you could assimilate it via the written word.

Natural gas has the potential to bridge the gap between the current oil dominated energy mix and sustainable renewables. It’s cheap, abundant, and the cleanest fossil fuel in the world. In fact, at today’s consumption rates, estimated US natural gas resources could be used to supply domestic electricity generation for 52 years.That being said, shale gas is trapped thousands of feet underground. How do we extract it and what does the process look like? The infographic below has all the details.

Marathon Oil has a great animation on the basics of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." It explains how horizontal drilling works and explains the roles of water and sand. Take a look.

New gas technology such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling have changed the complexion of natural gas in North America. This infographic explores natural gas, its properties, natural gas market dynamics, supply forecasts, demand, the shale revolution, and the switch from coal to natural gas. We also raise questions about methane leakage and hydraulic fracturing.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. By now, Peak Oil was supposed to be a fact of daily life. People were supposed to be lined up at gas stations, struggling to buy US$10-a-gallon gas. Solar and wind companies were supposed to occupy prominent places on the Big Board instead of going out of business right and left. People were supposed to have diminished expectations – resigned to shivering in the dark. Free markets, a flawed system of commerce, were to be exposed as a misleading theoretical construct, incapable of providing for people's needs...The world was running out of resources...Now, suddenly, there is a different tale to tell and the New York Times is up to the task. Up and down the Americas, we learn, there is an Oil Boom. Suddenly, we have gone from enforced austerity to an unheralded plenty. Middle East, watch out! [But all is not as it seems. Let me explain.] Words: 1440