Hydraulic fracturing has made another unwelcome appearance in the media, with reports in the U.K. that the procedure may cause earthquakes. Fracking involves the injection of water containing a surfactant and various other chemicals under high pressure into a source rock e.g. shale, causing the latter to fracture and release natural gas (principally methane). It is hoped that fracking will provide 45% of U.S. gas by 2035, although the jury remains “out” on its safety aspects, awaiting the conclusions of studies by the University of Texas and by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In Europe, fracking is set to be adopted widely, particularly in Poland which has significant reserves of gas-shale, while in France, which is similarly well resourced, reservations over groundwater contamination by fracking are sufficiently strident that the country’s legislators are considering banning it. France indeed produces almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear power, while other EU nations rely far more on fossil fuels and for whom gas is a more important ingredient of their energy-mix, including the UK.
In the inauguration of a pilot study offshore near the famous holiday resort of Blackpool, renowned for its “sticks of rock” and big-dipper rides, in the North-West of the United Kingdom, an unexpected side-effect of fracking has been identified, namely an earthquake of magnitude 2.3 which has reinforced some disquiet as to the safety of the procedure. The news is reminiscent of the discovery made in Switzerland a couple of years back that pumping water deep into hot rocks to extract geothermal energy can also cause earthquakes. It is thought that the UK operation will be put on hold for several weeks while the British Geological Survey considers the situation, but given the potential importance of fracking as a substantial contribution to world future energy needs, it is almost certain that it will not be abandoned.