Discuss the positive and negative impacts of ‘Hydraulic fracturing’ – the most common way to extract shale gas which is being perceived as a ‘saviour’ of humanity. (200 words)
Refer – The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 7 years
KEY POINTS
Fracking
· The most common way to extract shale gas is Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) where high volumes of water mixed with certain chemicals are pushed down to break the rocks and release the trapped energy minerals.
Positive Impacts (Economically)
· If India commercially exploits shale deposits – It could
1. meet its ever-increasing energy demand
2. decrease oil and gas imports
3. improve the balance of payments
4. reduces the prices of fuel and electricity
Negative Impacts (Environmentally)
· Fracking consumes large amounts of water and is bound to impact irrigation and other local requirements.
· Additionally, the chemicals mixed with water which is pumped into the reservoir to create cracks in the rocks have been identified to pose risks to human life and environment.
· The disposal of the water used for fracking is another big challenge as such vast quantities has to be reprocessed before draining them out.
· Further, about 25-90% of the fluid that is pumped in is lost within the reservoir and is not retrieved back.
· This unrecoverable volume hence puts the nearby underground water sources at a high risk of contamination.
· Fracking also has other impacts such as increased air emissions (including greenhouse gases) and seismic activity.
