appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kamala Thiagarajan

In her first major interview as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said she would not ban fracking, a reversal of her position during her first presidential run in 2020.
The discourse around November’s election is going beyond the usual issues of illegal migration or the need for tougher laws on guns and crime. This year, hydraulic fracking is taking centre stage.
Fracking involves injecting water, sand or chemicals into a well to break up tightly packed bedrock and sand under the surface of the ground, enabling the extraction of natural gas and crude oil. It can also be used to extract oil and gas from under the seabed.
This technology has significantly lowered costs for shale oil, by some estimates down from as high as US$90 per barrel to nearly US$30 per barrel. It’s easy to see why this is an important issue to US voters as cheaper extraction costs can mean lower energy bills for consumers.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were around 23,000 fracking wells in the United States in 2000. That number rose to 300,000 wells by 2015, representing half of US crude oil production.
It’s little wonder that fracking is a hot-button issue, especially in Pennsylvania, one of a few swing states with the power to determine the presidential election. Just as in other parts of the world, fracking has driven economic and industrial growth in the US. Any administration that bans it is bound to struggle to win over voters.


The US is not alone in embracing fracking, though. Once thought to be in its infancy compared to its US counterpart, China’s shale gas industry has experienced rapid growth since industrial exploitation began in 2012.
An EIA assessment of world shale oil and gas resources listed China as having the largest recoverable shale oil reserves in the Asia-Pacific, estimated at 32.2 billion barrels of oil. That puts it in third place globally, behind the US and Russia, which had 78.2 billion and 74.6 billion barrels respectively. While China had less than half the US levels of shale oil, it is a global leader in recoverable shale gas, with 1,152.2 trillion cubic feet, well ahead of the 622.5 trillion cubic feet of the US.
The US and China might not see eye to eye on much these days, but extracting shale gas and oil is something they have both agreed on for more than a decade. They have emerged as major players, reshaping the global energy sector and threatening the traditional monopoly of Russia and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
However, amid all its economic and geopolitical benefits, it is becoming increasingly clear that fracking is taking a huge environmental toll. The specific risks vary as countries can have different methods of extraction based on their unique geology, but two widely held concerns are increased earthquakes and groundwater contamination.


Studies in China have shown a marked rise in seismic activity in the Changning-Weiyuan National Shale Gas Demonstration Area, located in the southern part of the Sichuan Basin. Changning district in Yibin, Sichuan province, has reported at least five unusual earthquakes of 4.0 magnitude or greater since 2017, and studies have linked this seismic activity to nearby fracking activity.
Groundwater pollution from chemicals pumped into wells to fracture bedrock is a huge concern as well. In the US, fracking has raised heightened concerns over the vast amounts of waste water, noise and toxic pollution generated.
One of the biggest areas of concern is that the natural gas extracted by fracking is mostly composed of methane. A study published last year in Nature Energy revealed there were tens of thousands of inactive and offshore oil and gas wells in the US, with the potential to leak methane into the ocean.
The study estimates that plugging and abandoning these wells would cost the industry a whopping US$30 billion. At the same time, methane leaks are growing more common in China and are expected to rise as the fracking industry accelerates its operations.

The US is part of the Global Methane Pledge in which more than 100 countries have promised to help prevent the build-up of methane, which has 28 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Among the nations refusing to join the pledge are Russia, India and China.
UN development experts warned in a 2018 report against rushing into fracking without adequate policy or environmental assessment. Other studies have pointed out the damaging effects fracking can have on local communities. Under Pennsylvania law, for instance, fracking operations can get as close as 500 feet (150 metres) away from homes. Meanwhile, reports from southwestern Pennsylvania – a hotspot of fracking activity – have indicated a proliferation of rare paediatric cancer cases.
The drilling involved with fracking has the potential to release hazardous pollutants that harm air quality. Since operators are not obliged to disclose the kind of chemicals they use during the process, its impact on local communities is uncertain.
Some countries are taking a stand. The UK banned fracking in 2019 before lifting the ban in 2022 in response to the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Germany, France, Spain and some Australian states have banned the practice.
It’s clear that turning a blind eye to fracking’s environmental impact in an effort to reduce coal use is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.


Indonesia presses ahead with Russian oil imports despite ‘real risk’ of US penalties

China breaks ground on the world’s first supercritical CO2 and molten salt energy plant

Top US Senate Democrat Jeanne Shaheen warns Trump not to waver on Taiwan ahead of Xi meet

South Korea steps up to plug Europe’s jet fuel deficit

Energy

US, China fracking boom is reshaping global energy sector but at what cost?

A shale gas well drilling site in St Mary’s, Pennsylvania. US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee in this year’s presidential election, is walking a fine line with voters in the gas-producing swing state that could decide the election. Photo: AP

A sign calling for larger exclusion zones for fracking operations is seen in Washington, Pennsylvania, on July 30. Despite evidence of rising cancer rates in areas of heavy fracking, Pennsylvania law allows fracking operations to take place as close as within 150 metres of homes. Photo: Bloomberg

China confirms the discovery of a major natural gas field in the South China Sea

China has confirmed the discovery of a major gas field in the South China Sea, state media has reported. Called Lingshui 36-1, the field is estimated to contain more than 100 billion cubic metres of natural gas and is the world’s first “ultra-shallow gas field in ultra-deep waters”, Xinhua said. Photo: China National Offshore Oil Corporation

No easy answers to China’s raging thirst for oil

China’s largest self-operated offshore oilfield, Suizhong 36-1, has become its first offshore oilfield to produce over 100 million tonnes of crude oil, operator CNOOC said last month. The oilfield in Bohai Bay boasts a daily production of over 8,900 tonnes. Photo: CNOOC

Can China follow US by using shale to go from world’s biggest energy importer to a net exporter?

Once said to have world’s largest shale gas reserves, China remains dependant on imports, with its reserves hard to reach and shale output targets reined in

An employee takes gauge readings at a shale gas well at the Fuling shale gas project site, operated by Sinopec Chongqing Fuling Shale Gas Exploration and Development Co., a unit of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), in Jiaoshiba, Chongqing Municipality, China, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated China was sitting on the world's largest reserves of shale gas, almost double the U.S. and enough to theoretically supply the country for more than a century. The reserves are also deeper, harder to reach and more broken up than those in North America. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

A waterfall flows near a fracking facility at the Fuling shale gas project site, operated by Sinopec Chongqing Fuling Shale Gas Exploration and Development Co., a unit of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), in this aerial photograph taken in Jiaoshiba, Chongqing Municipality, China, on Thursday, June 21, 2018. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated China was sitting on the world's largest reserves of shale gas, almost double the U.S. and enough to theoretically supply the country for more than a century. The reserves are also deeper, harder to reach and more broken up than those in North America. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Employees walk through a shale gas collection and transfer facility at the Fuling shale gas project site, operated by Sinopec Chongqing Fuling Shale Gas Exploration and Development Co., a unit of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), in Jiaoshiba, Chongqing Municipality, China, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated China was sitting on the world's largest reserves of shale gas, almost double the U.S. and enough to theoretically supply the country for more than a century. The reserves are also deeper, harder to reach and more broken up than those in North America. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Shale gas wells stand at the Fuling shale gas project site, operated by Sinopec Chongqing Fuling Shale Gas Exploration and Development Co., a unit of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), in this aerial photograph taken in Jiaoshiba, Chongqing Municipality, China, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated China was sitting on the world's largest reserves of shale gas, almost double the U.S. and enough to theoretically supply the country for more than a century. The reserves are also deeper, harder to reach and more broken up than those in North America. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

China has yet to turn the resources it has devoted to discovering shale gas reserves into a supply that meets its own needs and could allow it to become an exporter. Photo: Bloomberg

Sherwood Forest, fabled home of Robin Hood, faces fracking threat

Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire county, England. Photo: nottinghamshire.gov

Major Oak, the 1,000-year-old tree that, according to fable, sheltered Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Photo: majoroak.org

Opinion

World Opinion

China Opinion

News

China

World

United States & Canada

Economy

Business

Knowledge

Topics

China and climate change

US-China Relations

For all the well-publicised economic benefits of fracking, we can’t ignore the harm it does to the environment and public health


For all the well-publicised economic benefits of fracking, we can’t ignore the harm it does to the environment and public health.


United States

US presidential election 2024

Kamala Harris

China energy security

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


US, China fracking boom is reshaping global energy sector but at what cost?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}For all the well-publicised economic benefits of fracking, we can’t ignore the harm it does to the environment and public health

For all the well-publicised economic benefits of fracking, we can’t ignore the harm it does to the environment and public health