Update on Fracking, the Supposed Energy

Bridge

by Danny Yehia

by Danny Yehia

One of the main arguments for fracking, where shale is “washed” and natural gas is recovered, is that it will eventually reduce the carbon emission output of the energy

industry as a whole.

The idea is that because natural gas

burns so much cleaner than coal, the most widely used fuel

for energy creation today, it will act as a bridge between fossil

fuel based energy production and the

even cleaner, greener, nuclear

power and natural power (including

solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric).

This seems like a great idea on the surface, but when it is explored, as researchers recently did in the scholarly journal Nature, it falls to pieces. It is true that natural gas burns cleanly but it’s effect

on the energy production industry will almost certainly be negative. The reasons why are myriad

but can be reduced to one, the ever increasing supply of shale natural gas and the ease of and

opportunity for collecting more.

Because it is so cheap to and because there are so many places on the planet

that are untapped, the supply of shale natural gas

is skyrocketing. This propels the price for the

gas down and that is where the problems begin.

A lower price point means it will be adopted by many energy producers in the

industry and those producers will be able to sell energy at very affordable rates. The competition for the energy

market will increase and the natural, renewable sources of

energy production will be pushed out of the market.

As one of the researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that published the study,

Haewon McJeon, puts it, “[New] technology could double or triple the global natural gas production

by 2050. But greenhouse gas emissions would continue to grow in the absence of climate policies

that promote lower carbon energy sources.”

So, unless governments step in and subsidize

renewable energy sources to make them more affordable than the

natural gas alternative, most consumers will choose the cheaper

option. The lower price will also allow for more frivolous use of energy

(it’s cheap so why not use it?) leading to more

energy production and higher carbon emissions.

The energy “bridge” will be built by the frackers and their shale natural gas, yes, but it would

seemingly go on forever, never reaching the other side where renewable energy waits. And, in the

long run, that will do more damage to our environment than sticking with coal and moving

more quickly to renewable sources.

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