Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
that will be needed in 2030 to meet the energy needs of a growing world economy
is still to be built,” he has said.
3
The United States has long held the title for the world's largest economy, and
has been as well its foremost energy user. With less than 5 percent of the world's
population, the United States consumes 20 to 25 percent of the world's supply of
biggest energy consumer: the United States uses 19 percent of the world's energy,
tional Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts, China will eclipse the United States as the
world's leading economy.
6
As concern about rising global temperatures, high oil prices, the vulnerability
of nuclear plants, and friction over energy supplies grows, there will be calls for
greater use of “renewables”—sunlight, wind, moving water, and geothermal heat.
A shift to new technologies and fuels is already under way, and defining what re-
source economists call “a new age in the history of energy.”
The American public, for one, seems to favor a cautious approach. In the US
presidential election of 2012, Republicans and Democrats sparred over energy
policy, among many other issues. But political theater aside, Obama and Governor
Mitt Romney agreed on most issues: both said they wanted to lower dependence
on oil from the Middle East and to encourage more oil drilling in Alaska, Texas,
North Dakota, and the Gulf of Mexico. Both said they supported biofuels and nuc-
lear power. And each candidate asserted that he would promote hydrofracking bet-
ter than his competitor.
While the public generally associates hydraulic fracturing with natural gas, the pro-
cess is also used for many other purposes, including
• Extracting oil and “liquid” natural gases (LNGs), such as propane, butane, hexane,
and the like
• Preventing mining cave-ins
• Stimulating or gauging groundwater flow
• Accelerating the flow of water from drinking supplies
• Injecting wastewater (including from hydrofracking) into deep rock formations for
permanent storage
