Fracking presentation
According to the journal Earth's Climate, written by researchers for environmental sciences, natural gas power plants emit an average of 44 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by coal power plants.
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Despite the environmental and health hazards we just mentioned, several studies have suggested that fracking is a better alternative to energy sources like coal.
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Further, the increased use of natural gas has reduced the emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide by 40 percent and 44 percent respectively
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One of the largest concerns regarding the process is air pollution. Given that methane is a main component of natural gas and is shown to trap heat in the atmosphere more potently than carbon dioxide, many environmentalists argue that fracking is a catalyst for air pollution. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is a federal agency focused on environmental conditions, four percent of methane produced by wells in Weld County, Colorado was escaping into the atmosphere in 2012, which seems like a small amount but the amount is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of one to three million cars, which is a huge amount.
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Since methane traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, fracking is shown to damage the environment at extremely high levels and even contribute to climate change. STOP.
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These statistics show that, in comparison to coal, fracking is actually reducing emission rates of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants. As proven by the study, fracking is less harmful to the environment than alternative energy sources, which implies that it is beneficial to the atmosphere. STOP.
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As a growing process with much to offer, fracking, like any other industry, will become cleaner and more efficient over time.
Wrap-up
Even though we have concluded that fracking is more beneficial than harmful and should be continued, there are still some negative impacts of fracking that we have proposed several solutions for.
Conclusion
Although fracking yields several great economic benefits, air and water pollution associated with fracking is a huge concern. The images we showed you at the start of the presentation are examples of some of the cons of fracking, and these hazards have caused others to argue that fracking should not be continued.
Counter
Another recommendation we have developed after thorough research is to place restrictions and regulations on fracking. While the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 did this, Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted fracking from any major environmental regulations. To solve this issue, laws must be revised in order to stop exempting fracking from environmental regulations or we have to create laws that better regulate fracking and lower the
Solutions
As seen with GE's new technology and with the other proposed solutions, fracking is a developing industry that is improving with each new technological innovation. Even though there are some environmental and health-related concerns surrounding fracking, its economic benefits are too great to be ignored. The issues of the process can be fixed quite simply with the solutions we have proposed.
Solutions
General Electric's mobile evaporator will help to separate contaminants from the water, allowing the water to be recycled and reducing the rate at which contaminated water re-enters drinking water sources.
Solutions
One of those is to limit the number of fracking sites in the nation because there is currently an overproduction of natural gas in the U.S. By lowering the number of fracking sites, we can produce just enough natural gas so that the process is more cost-effective while reducing pollution by lowering the number of sites available to pollute the environment and cause adverse health effects.
Solutions
Based on the research we've presented, we have drawn the following conclusion for our research question. Although fracking threatens the environment, its economic benefits are too significant to be ignored and thus outweigh the environmental costs, indicating that fracking, with some limitations, should ultimately be continued in the United States.
Thesis and implication
But even though we've just proven that air pollution is actually not a huge concern of fracking, an overwhelming majority of studies argue that fracking poses a threat to local water sources because of the huge amount of water that is mixed with toxic chemical compounds to make 'frack fluid,' so many studies suggest that fracking poses a threat to water sanitation. A Duke University study analyzing 68 water wells in New York and Pennsylvania, a source widely referenced by other studies in the field, provides direct evidence of methane contamination in underground drinking water sources near fracking wells. Methane concentrations were found in 85 percent of the wells, and wells near active drilling sites were contaminated by methane 17 times more than normal wells
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The study draws a link between fracking and water contamination, suggesting that drilling for natural gas is harmful to the environment.
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