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DON鈥橳 blame fracking for the environmental problems associated with getting gas out of shale. That鈥檚 the message of a new report from the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.
The US is experiencing a shale gas boom driven by fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, in which water, sand and chemical additives are injected into bedrock at high pressure to release trapped methane.
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Other nations are keen to follow suit, and lead author Charles 鈥淐hip鈥� Groat hopes the report will help regulators worldwide separate 鈥渇act from fiction鈥�.
Reviewing existing studies, Groat鈥檚 team found no evidence that fracking contaminates groundwater. However, this doesn鈥檛 mean that shale gas extraction is benign. The report notes that surface spills of the chemicals used to frack, for instance, have broken environmental regulations.
聯Groat鈥檚 team found no evidence that fracking contaminates groundwater聰