Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing to give its proper name, has become part of our lives recently, due to the massive exploitation of America’s shale oil and gas fields. Along the way it has stirred up controversy, with passionate opponents fighting against the oil companies. The fight has generated a lot of heat, but not much understanding. This guide, written by some-one who knows what he is talking about takes a detached, neutral view of the subject. Without pushing a view for or against, it provides the factual background you need to form an opinion of your own. An Informed and Neutral Introduction Like most people I have heard of fracking, but did I really understand what it was? To answer honestly, no. I knew it had something to do with mining and was perhaps destructive to the land. To me, it was just one of those words of the moment. This guide has given me a real sense and understanding of what fracking is. It allowed me, someone who has no experience in this field, to learn about the pros and cons of fracking, without having the good and bad of it forced down my throat. If you want an informed and neutral introduction into fracking, then this is the guide for you. ~ Debbie Prewer

Winner of the Writers' League of Texas Book Awards Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize From the front lines of the fracking debate, a “field philosopher” explores one of our most divisive technologies. When philosophy professor Adam Briggle moved to Denton, Texas, he had never heard of fracking. Only five years later he would successfully lead a citizens' initiative to ban hydraulic fracturing in Denton—the first Texas town to challenge the oil and gas industry. On his journey to learn about fracking and its effects, he leaped from the ivory tower into the fray. In beautifully narrated chapters, Briggle brings us to town hall debates and neighborhood meetings where citizens wrestle with issues few fully understand. Is fracking safe? How does it affect the local economy? Why are bakeries prohibited in neighborhoods while gas wells are permitted next to playgrounds? In his quest for answers Briggle meets people like Cathy McMullen. Her neighbors’ cows asphyxiated after drinking fracking fluids, and her orchard was razed to make way for a pipeline. Cathy did not consent to drilling, but those who profited lived far out of harm’s way. Briggle's first instinct was to think about fracking—deeply. Drawing on philosophers from Socrates to Kant, but also on conversations with engineers, legislators, and industry representatives, he develops a simple theory to evaluate fracking: we should give those at risk to harm a stake in the decisions we make, and we should monitor for and correct any problems that arise. Finding this regulatory process short-circuited, with government and industry alike turning a blind eye to symptoms like earthquakes and nosebleeds, Briggle decides to take action. Though our field philosopher is initially out of his element—joining fierce activists like "Texas Sharon," once called the "worst enemy" of the oil and gas industry—his story culminates in an underdog victory for Denton, now nationally recognized as a beacon for citizens' rights at the epicenter of the fracking revolution.

"Since 1859, oil has enabled and defined our economic, social and political landscape. Throughout this time, abundant supply ensured low, stable prices and the inner workings of the oil industry remained relatively obscure. Following a century and a half of relative calm, oil prices have become much more volatile as the sustainability and growth of reliable supply sources have been brought into question. This book provides a guide to oil; from its history, to sources of supply and drivers of demand; from how prices are determined daily in global wholesale oil markets, to how those markets are connected to prices at the pump." -- Book jacket.

How has our relation to energy changed over time? What differences do particular energy sources make to human values, politics, and imagination? How have transitions from one energy source to another—from wood to coal, or from oil to solar to whatever comes next—transformed culture and society? What are the implications of uneven access to energy in the past, present, and future? Which concepts and theories clarify our relation to energy, and which just get in the way? Fueling Culture offers a compendium of keywords written by scholars and practitioners from around the world and across the humanities and social sciences. These keywords offer new ways of thinking about energy as both the source and the limit of how we inhabit culture, with the aim of opening up new ways of understanding the seemingly irresolvable contradictions of dependence upon unsustainable energy forms. Fueling Culture brings together writing that is risk-taking and interdisciplinary, drawing on insights from literary and cultural studies, environmental history and ecocriticism, political economy and political ecology, postcolonial and globalization studies, and materialisms old and new. Keywords in this volume include: Aboriginal, Accumulation, Addiction, Affect, America, Animal, Anthropocene, Architecture, Arctic, Automobile, Boom, Canada, Catastrophe, Change, Charcoal, China, Coal, Community, Corporation, Crisis, Dams, Demand, Detritus, Disaster, Ecology, Electricity, Embodiment, Ethics, Evolution, Exhaust, Fallout, Fiction, Fracking, Future, Gender, Green, Grids, Guilt, Identity, Image, Infrastructure, Innervation, Kerosene, Lebenskraft, Limits, Media, Metabolism, Middle East, Nature, Necessity, Networks, Nigeria, Nuclear, Petroviolence, Photography, Pipelines, Plastics, Renewable, Resilience, Risk, Roads, Rubber, Rural, Russia, Servers, Shame, Solar, Spill, Spiritual, Statistics, Surveillance, Sustainability, Tallow, Texas, Textiles, Utopia, Venezuela, Whaling, Wood, Work For a full list of keywords in and contributors to this volume, please go to: http://ow.ly/4mZZxV

Microseismic Imaging of Hydraulic Fracturing: Improved Engineering of Unconventional Shale Reservoirs (SEG Distinguished Instructor Series No. 17) covers the use of microseismic data to enhance engineering design of hydraulic fracturing and well completion. The book, which accompanies the 2014 SEG Distinguished Instructor Short Course, describes the design, acquisition, processing, and interpretation of an effective microseismic project. The text includes a tutorial of the basics of hydraulic fracturing, including the geologic and geomechanical factors that control fracture growth. In addition to practical issues associated with collecting and interpreting microseismic data, potential pitfalls and quality-control steps are discussed. Actual case studies are used to demonstrate engineering benefits and improved production through the use of microseismic monitoring. Providing a practical user guide for survey design, quality control, interpretation, and application of microseismic hydraulic fracture monitoring, this book will be of interest to geoscientists and engineers involved in development of unconventional reservoirs.

Over roughly the past decade, oil and gas production in the United States has surged dramatically—thanks largely to technological advances such as high-volume hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as “fracking.” This rapid increase has generated widespread debate, with proponents touting economic and energy-security benefits and opponents highlighting the environmental and social risks of increased oil and gas production. Despite the heated debate, neither side has a monopoly on the facts. In this book, Daniel Raimi gives a balanced and accessible view of oil and gas development, clearly and thoroughly explaining the key issues surrounding the shale revolution. The Fracking Debate directly addresses the most common questions and concerns associated with fracking: What is fracking? Does fracking pollute the water supply? Will fracking make the United States energy independent? Does fracking cause earthquakes? How is fracking regulated? Is fracking good for the economy? Coupling a deep understanding of the scholarly research with lessons from his travels to every major U.S. oil- and gas-producing region, Raimi highlights stories of the people and communities affected by the shale revolution, for better and for worse. The Fracking Debate provides the evidence and context that have so frequently been missing from the national discussion of the future of oil and gas production, offering readers the tools to make sense of this critical issue.

The use of fracking is a tremendously important technology for the recovery of oil and gas, but the advantages and costs of fracking remain controversial. This book examines the issues and social, economic, political, and legal aspects of fracking in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells—known commonly as "fracking"—has been in use in the United States for more than half a century. In recent years, however, massive expansion of shale gas fracturing across the nation has put fracking in the public eye. Is fracking a "win win" like its proponents say, or are there significant costs and dangers associated with the use of this energy production technology? This book examines fracking from all angles, addressing the promise of the United States becoming energy independent through the use of the process to tap the massive amounts of natural gas and oil available as well as the host of problems associated with fracking—groundwater contamination and increased seismic activity, just to mention two—that raise questions about the long-term feasibility of the process as a source of natural gas. The first part of the book provides a historical background of the topic; a review of technical information about fracking; and a detailed discussion of the social, economic, political, legal, and other aspects of the current fracking controversy. The second part of the book provides a host of resources for readers seeking to learn even more in-depth information about the topic, supplying a chronology, glossary, annotated bibliography, and profiles of important individuals and organizations. Written specifically for students and young adults, the content is accessible to readers with little or no previous knowledge regarding fracking.