The Importance of America’s Shale Energy Boom
Mary Schaper
Posted March 10, 2014
Fracking Uses Lots of Water? Hardly
Real Clear Energy: For some reason, hydraulic fracking has gotten a reputation for using a lot of water. Not so, says Economic Policies for the 21st Century at the Manhattan Institute. When you look at the actual amount of water used in the process, hydraulic fracking comes out at the bottom of the list. As the report observes, "It takes twice as much water to maintain a golf course for a month than to frack a natural gas well."
Don't forget, all other energy resources use a lot of water, too. Biofuels is the biggest offender, since huge amounts of water are required to process and dilute the organic material. When the irrigation water needed to grow the crops is included, biofuels consume in excess of 2500 gallons of water per million BTU. (That may be cheating a bit since some advanced biofuel crops may not require irrigation, but the current corn crop, the source of all our ethanol, is heavily irrigated.) All forms of oil drilling require lots of water since water usually has to be added once a well passes maturity.
Read more: http://bit.ly/1i5Gdsj
More industry news:
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NY Times, Washington Post and WSJ Back Exporting Natural Gas to Counter Russia: http://bit.ly/1kbH8HQ
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Shale Tech Revolution a Boon for Texas Oil Industry, Railroad Commission Chair Says: http://dallasne.ws/1lqwdd7
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Study: Officials View Fracking Positively: http://bit.ly/1dJaITl
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American Gas for Europe: More Pleas for Obama to Reduce Western Dependence on Putin: http://on.wsj.com/1oG4bup
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Time’s Now to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ http://bit.ly/1cKdI3H
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Marcellus Natural Gas Can Make the World a Safer Place: http://bit.ly/1fkK5oU
About The Author
Mary Schaper is a Digital Communications Manager for the American Petroleum Institute. She previously worked on Capitol Hill for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as Digital Director and for Senator Lisa Murkowski. Before coming to D.C., she spearheaded digital strategy for Murkowski's successful Senate write-in campaign in 2010. Schaper enjoys traveling and taking in the local culture alongside her husband, their son and loyal springer spaniel.