How does unconventional gas affect the environment?
However, despite these benefits, unconventional gas development can affect local and regional air quality. Some areas where drilling occurs have experienced increases in concentrations of hazardous air pollutants and two of the six “criteria pollutants” — particulate matter and ozone plus its precursors — regulated by the EPA because of their harmful effects on health and the environment [ 9 ]. Exposure to elevated levels of these air pollutants can lead to adverse health outcomes, including respiratory symptoms, cardiovascular disease, and cancer [ 11 ]. One recent study found that residents living less than half a mile from unconventional gas well sites were at greater risk of health effects from air pollution from natural gas development than those living farther from the well sites [ 12 ].
What is the effect of burning natural gas?
Cleaner burning than other fossil fuels, the combustion of natural gas produce s negligible amounts of sulfur, mercury, and particulates. Burning natural gas does produce nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are precursors to smog, but at lower levels than gasoline and diesel used for motor vehicles.
How does hydraulic fracturing affect Michigan?
A study of hydraulic fracturing impacts in Michigan found potential environmental impacts to be “significant” and include increased erosion and sedimentation, increased risk of aquatic contamination from chemical spills or equipment runoff, habitat fragmentation, and reduction of surface waters as a result of the lowering of groundwater levels [ 14 ].
How much methane should be kept in natural gas plants?
One recent study found that methane losses must be kept below 3.2 percent for natural gas power plants to have lower life cycle emissions than new coal plants over short time frames of 20 years or fewer [ 6 ].
Why is groundwater contaminated?
One major cause of gas contamina tion is improperly constructed or failing wells that allow gas to leak from the well into groundwater.
What happens if you don't manage your chemicals properly?
If not managed properly, the chemicals could leak or spill out of faulty storage containers or during transport. Drilling muds, diesel, and other fluids can also spill at the surface [ 21 ]. Improper management of flowback or produced wastewater can cause leaks and spills.
How does oil drilling affect the environment?
The construction and land disturbance required for oil and gas drilling can alter land use and harm local ecosystems by causing erosion and fragmenting wildlife habitats and migration patterns.
Why is natural gas considered clean-burning?
Natural gas is often touted as the solution to other, more polluting fossil fuels like coal or oil. But just because it's cleaner doesn't mean it’s clean. ConocoPhillips, a natural gas company, will tell you that when natural gas is burned, it produces mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, which is the same thing we humans produce when we exhale. This is true, for the most part, but that CO2 is still an environmental hazard, one that renewable energy sources don’t produce at all.
Where does natural gas come from?
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), natural gas is formed beneath the Earth’s surface from the fossilized remains of plants and animals. It's largely composed of methane, which is what makes it flammable. Methane is also what makes natural gas so problematic, in terms of its environmental impact.
Does natural gas produce carbon dioxide?
The EIA reports that natural gas produced at oil wells can contain high concentrations of toxic hydrogen sulfide, which is burned off at these sites. When this occurs, CO2, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other compounds are shot into the atmosphere. When natural gas pipelines are made, they also displace wildlife, affect nearby (and often marginalized) communities, and contaminate local waterways.
How does methane affect climate?
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas, which means it contributes to global warming and climate change like other greenhouse gases. According to the EIA, the EPA estimates that methane emissions from natural gas and petroleum systems contributed to 29 percent of total U.S. methane emissions in 2018, which is equal to about 3 percent ...
Can natural gas be used as a stopgap?
According to Reuters, power plants that run on natural gas provide enough continuous electricity that it could potentially be used as a stop-gap for intermittent renewable sources like wind or solar power. That said, even the most “gas-friendly” scientists will tell you that this is not a solution, not when natural gas still manages to belch CO2 into our already oversaturated atmosphere.
Does fracking cause earthquakes?
According to The Wilderness Society, fracking has been known to poison or pollute groundwater and surface water sources, threaten local wildlife, and in some cases, cause explosions, fires, and even earthquakes.
Is natural gas cleaner than oil?
Mar. 29 2021, Updated 9:41 a.m. ET. Although natural gas is widely used, and is supposedly cleaner-burning than oil or petrol eum products, there are many problematic aspects involved in its procurement, production, and usage.
How does burning off natural gas affect the environment?
Flaring or burning off of natural gas at drilling sites causes air pollution. Pollutants are commonly removed from the air by precipitation and deposited in the sea around the well. Impacts of this pollution have not been well studied.
How does natural gas affect the marine environment?
Impact of Natural Gas in the Marine Environment. During drilling and extraction of gas deposits from the sea floor, releases of gas into the marine environment are inevitable. Gas is dumped into the sea mixed in with produced water, may leak from pipelines, tankers and underwater storage tanks, or may be released during catastrophic well blowouts, ...
What happens when gas is dumped into the sea?
Gas is dumped into the sea mixed in with produced water, may leak from pipelines, tankers and underwater storage tanks, or may be released during catastrophic well blowouts, explosions and smaller accidental spills. Spills and blowouts occur due to drilling equipment failure, corrosion of pipelines, human error, earthquakes, ice, storms, ...
Why are oil rigs good for fishing?
Petroleum developers often point to the Gulf of Mexico and say that rigs there are good for the fishery because catch rates have gone up. Indeed, rigs placed on sandy bottom where there is no other shelter act like artificial reefs. They attract fish and it is easy for sport fishers to catch them. Analysis of the situation shows that although rigs do act like fish aggregating devices, there is no increase in the abundance of the stock, it merely gets redistributed and easier to catch with hook and line. In the North Sea, where fishes are bottom species, there has been a negative relationship between the number of oil and gas rigs and fish catches.
Where is methane found?
In the Gulf of Mexico, high concentrations of methane were found around offshore drilling rigs during a 1975 study by Sackett and Brooks. In the North Sea and in California, bottom ecosystems are disturbed and their species compositions altered where there is gas seepage. Biomass of living things declines and shellfish disappear.
How long does it take for fish to die from gas?
Within 15 – 20 minutes fish exposed to such concentrations show signs of acute poisoning, and they die within 1-2 days of exposure. Shellfish are also killed by exposure to gas. Zooplankton and phytoplankton can tolerate higher concentrations of gas than fish or shellfish can (i.e. they die at 2 – 5 mg/l).
Why do pipelines fail?
Pipeline failures are most commonly due to material or welding defects, but pipelines may also be hit by anchors or trawls, or affected by earthquakes or ground erosion. The environmental consequences of releases of natural gas into the sea are especially severe when they happen near shore, in shallow waters or in areas with slow water circulation. ...
