Natural gas, what’s the big deal? You might have heard lately that getting natural gas is associated with hydrofracking. Natural gas can be used to power homes, factories, electric utilities and for commercial uses. It’s popular in homes to power their gas water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers. Six in ten homes use natural gas power. The first step in getting natural gas, also known as hydrofracking, is installing a drilling rig then getting it inspected to make sure it meets the safety requirements. Then drilling can start. When the well is drilled multiple layers of cement and steel casing create a barrier between the ground and the well. The well is drilled vertically until it nears the shale zone. When you reach the shale zone the well is turned horizontally. Then a perforated device is inserted to create small holes in the dirt around it. After, fluids with sand and water are pumped down making the gas travel up the cement casings to be captured and used. Seems super complicated doesn’t it?
Of course with all these materials cost is a concern. Natural gas wells need to be drilled 6,100 feet in the ground and cost $100 dollars per foot. That’s $610,000 dollars per well! When the scientists want to drill in a certain place they have to do many experiments to see if they can get the natural gas from that space. They only really know if the gas is there after they drill, and spend all that money. If they can drill only about 48 percent of what they get produces gas that we can use.
Some of the cons about hydrofracking is again all the risks taken to try to get the gas. If something does go wrong it can be terribly dangerous to the water supply for families. A video has been posted from Colorado
-Spilling Ink
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