Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Shale gas advocates claim that fracking is safe, with no local environ-
mental risks. Ed Davey, the UK Secretary of State for Energy & Climate
Change, drawing on a report from the Royal Society and the Royal Academy
of Engineering, has said that fracking ''can take place quite safely, without
hurting the local environment. It will not contaminate water supplies''.
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But a report for the European Commission, Support to the Identification of
Potential Risks for the Environment and Human Health arising from Hydrocarbons
Operations involving Hydraulic Fracturing in Europe,
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identified ''a number of
issues as presenting a high risk for people and the environment''. It assessed
the cumulative impact of fracking at multiple installations as ''high risk'' in
terms of groundwater contamination, surface water contamination, water
resources, release to air, land take, risk to biodiversity, noise impacts and
trac. In a Global Environmental Alert issued in 2012, the United Nations
Environment Program concluded that fracking ''may result in unavoidable
environmental impacts even if (unconventional gas) is extracted properly, and
more so if done inadequately''.
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In 2013, drilling company Cuadrilla was
censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for writing in a public in-
formation leaflet that it used ''proven, safe technologies''.
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The United Nations Environment Program lists the following potential
risks from shale gas exploration and production:
Greenhouse gas emissions;
Land footprint (on natural and crop land);
Risk of explosion (wells, pipelines, transport);
Risk of leakage from wells into the water table;
Risk of leakage from fracking fluid or from produced water into the
water table;
Risk of leakage from improperly treated produced water and fracking
fluids from flowback into the soil and water table and surface water;
Risk of infiltration of fracking fluid into the water table;
Risk of migration of naturally occurring toxic substances; and
Impacts from improperly treated water in crops.
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Friends of the Earth believes there are real concerns about local and global
environmental impacts. This chapter cannot consider all of these potential
impacts in detail but will look briefly at some of them.
2.1 Climate Change
Exploiting shale gas poses major risks for climate change by perpetuating
our use of fossil fuels rather than moving to low-carbon alternatives. There
are three key issues to consider:
The comparative emissions of shale gas compared to conventional gas
and other fossil fuels;
The impact on overall emissions of using shale gas; and
The impact on investment in renewable energy.
