FISH 101: Water & Society
The following is my Third Debate preparation, Assigned the side of Pro Hydrofrackers.
Hydrofracking and the Economic Benefits
Hydrofracking provides numerous economic and environmental benefits for the future. First, hydrofracking would allow appropriate supplies of domestic demands for all gas related needs. Second, the idea of “fracturing” is actually a naturally occurring process in the earth and is only being accelerated for the supply of societal needs. Finally, the process of hydrofracking actually aids the efforts of those finding ways to remedy global warming.
To begin, hydrofracking is a prosperous and efficient method of gas retrieval in relation to the supply demanded by consumers, which is almost the entire human population whether directly or indirectly. Furthermore, the amount of gas estimated to be received from fracking totals to almost over the amount found over the past one hundred and fifty years, and is almost seventy times the amount used annually by Americans alone. Furthermore, the domestic supply of gas via fracking would provide a domestic supply, limiting importation, allowing exportation, and buffing the American economy. With the acquired income and production, more money could be put towards other industries such as ecofriendly energy production. As support, just within the past couple years, over fifty billion barrels of oil deposits have been located, providing over three million barrels of oil daily by the year 2020. Furthermore, our global populations are ever growing and therefore, societies are ever expansive and demanding of housing, industry, and agricultural supply. Gas and oil is necessary to heat a home currently; factories supplying clothing and healthy food processing require gas and oil; and last but not least, the tractors and machines used to plow and sow land and seeds require gas and oil on farms. With the world population over seven billion and ever growing, and the United States possessing over three hundred million of these people, strikes an impact on the amount of gas and oil consumed and necessary to sustain developed nations. According to the US Bureau of Transit Statistics, the average American uses over seven hundred gallons of gas annually. That is one individual. In relation to the American population, the United States uses an average rising well above two billion gallons of gas per year, and growing.
However, fracking is still a process focused on the retrieval of a nonrenewable resource and is only meant to aid in a more economically and environmentally friendly manner than current gas retrieval systems provide. Furthermore, fracking is a temporary process to be performed until current technology reaches prime development to allow for not only renewable energy source production, but as well as economic stability. The amount of emissions produced currently from coal plants far exceeds the amount which is naturally produced from fracking. If one were to completely replace all coal with the natural gas allocated from fracking for energy supplying plants, the emissions would be reduced by more than fifty percent. As well as the amount of plants necessary for hydrofracking is far less expansive than that of fossil fuel plants. The plants for fracking are substantially larger than the average coal plant, however, the amount of wells dispersed across the land is far fewer than that of fossil fuel plants. This limits the environmental impact substantially. Furthermore, the earth natural fracks and disperses gas into the atmosphere. Hydrofracking merely accelerates the pace at which this happens as well as captures the gas released. The Wilson Cycle is a tectonic process which occurs deep beneath the earth’s crust. Our liquid core heads the earth’s mantle and continuously moves the earth’s plates, cracking and bending. With the combination of water, natural gases, and the pressure of rising magma, plumes and cracks occur, transferring gasses such as methane, carbion dioxide, and more from the core to the surface. Hydrofracking, aims to capture gasses and oils that would naturally occur this way, only in an accelerated manner. Furthermore, there are two directions in which global warming occurs, and this can be noted in relation to the events of Snowball Earth. In one direction, the earth can completely freeze over and be completely coated in slush or ice. However, the other direction occurs when the earth warms due to volcanoes and other forms of gas emission. These two processes can also occur simultaneously. As polar ice continues to grow, and eventually encompasses the entirety of the planet, the Wilson Cycle promotes the movement of tectonic plates resulting in the subduction and convergence zones of landmasses. As this occurs, volcanoes are producing beneath landmasses and across the ocean floor from building magma and gas chambers. Other geothermal hotspots also arise beneath the depths of the ice, and as heat escapes from the core, the ocean is prevented from freezing to the bottom. Volcanoes breach the surfaces of the ice, allowing for carbon dioxide to build up in the atmosphere, slowly yet gradually warming the surface of the planet and thawing the ice. Hydrofracking would act similarly to the seduction volcanoes in this example, however, instead of allowing the gas to build in the atmosphere, the gas and oils would be captured for use.
Questions:
1. How can the use of hydrofracking be far more detrimental than the current use of fossil fuels in the long run?
2. What solutions are being proposed by those opposed to hydrofracking in reducing emissions but sustaining the economy? No one is planning on limiting the population amounts, becoming less developed, and the idea of the entire world going completely green is almost impossible. What other solutions are available with these standards set?
Marisa Elena Patrick
Hydrofracking provides numerous economic and environmental benefits for the future. First, hydrofracking would allow appropriate supplies of domestic demands for all gas related needs. Second, the idea of “fracturing” is actually a naturally occurring process in the earth and is only being accelerated for the supply of societal needs. Finally, the process of hydrofracking actually aids the efforts of those finding ways to remedy global warming.
To begin, hydrofracking is a prosperous and efficient method of gas retrieval in relation to the supply demanded by consumers, which is almost the entire human population whether directly or indirectly. Furthermore, the amount of gas estimated to be received from fracking totals to almost over the amount found over the past one hundred and fifty years, and is almost seventy times the amount used annually by Americans alone. Furthermore, the domestic supply of gas via fracking would provide a domestic supply, limiting importation, allowing exportation, and buffing the American economy. With the acquired income and production, more money could be put towards other industries such as ecofriendly energy production. As support, just within the past couple years, over fifty billion barrels of oil deposits have been located, providing over three million barrels of oil daily by the year 2020. Furthermore, our global populations are ever growing and therefore, societies are ever expansive and demanding of housing, industry, and agricultural supply. Gas and oil is necessary to heat a home currently; factories supplying clothing and healthy food processing require gas and oil; and last but not least, the tractors and machines used to plow and sow land and seeds require gas and oil on farms. With the world population over seven billion and ever growing, and the United States possessing over three hundred million of these people, strikes an impact on the amount of gas and oil consumed and necessary to sustain developed nations. According to the US Bureau of Transit Statistics, the average American uses over seven hundred gallons of gas annually. That is one individual. In relation to the American population, the United States uses an average rising well above two billion gallons of gas per year, and growing.
However, fracking is still a process focused on the retrieval of a nonrenewable resource and is only meant to aid in a more economically and environmentally friendly manner than current gas retrieval systems provide. Furthermore, fracking is a temporary process to be performed until current technology reaches prime development to allow for not only renewable energy source production, but as well as economic stability. The amount of emissions produced currently from coal plants far exceeds the amount which is naturally produced from fracking. If one were to completely replace all coal with the natural gas allocated from fracking for energy supplying plants, the emissions would be reduced by more than fifty percent. As well as the amount of plants necessary for hydrofracking is far less expansive than that of fossil fuel plants. The plants for fracking are substantially larger than the average coal plant, however, the amount of wells dispersed across the land is far fewer than that of fossil fuel plants. This limits the environmental impact substantially. Furthermore, the earth natural fracks and disperses gas into the atmosphere. Hydrofracking merely accelerates the pace at which this happens as well as captures the gas released. The Wilson Cycle is a tectonic process which occurs deep beneath the earth’s crust. Our liquid core heads the earth’s mantle and continuously moves the earth’s plates, cracking and bending. With the combination of water, natural gases, and the pressure of rising magma, plumes and cracks occur, transferring gasses such as methane, carbion dioxide, and more from the core to the surface. Hydrofracking, aims to capture gasses and oils that would naturally occur this way, only in an accelerated manner. Furthermore, there are two directions in which global warming occurs, and this can be noted in relation to the events of Snowball Earth. In one direction, the earth can completely freeze over and be completely coated in slush or ice. However, the other direction occurs when the earth warms due to volcanoes and other forms of gas emission. These two processes can also occur simultaneously. As polar ice continues to grow, and eventually encompasses the entirety of the planet, the Wilson Cycle promotes the movement of tectonic plates resulting in the subduction and convergence zones of landmasses. As this occurs, volcanoes are producing beneath landmasses and across the ocean floor from building magma and gas chambers. Other geothermal hotspots also arise beneath the depths of the ice, and as heat escapes from the core, the ocean is prevented from freezing to the bottom. Volcanoes breach the surfaces of the ice, allowing for carbon dioxide to build up in the atmosphere, slowly yet gradually warming the surface of the planet and thawing the ice. Hydrofracking would act similarly to the seduction volcanoes in this example, however, instead of allowing the gas to build in the atmosphere, the gas and oils would be captured for use.
Questions:
1. How can the use of hydrofracking be far more detrimental than the current use of fossil fuels in the long run?
2. What solutions are being proposed by those opposed to hydrofracking in reducing emissions but sustaining the economy? No one is planning on limiting the population amounts, becoming less developed, and the idea of the entire world going completely green is almost impossible. What other solutions are available with these standards set?
Marisa Elena Patrick