Fracking will save our economy?

[Omaha 680]

By the time California allows that we will all be driving electric cars that are charged by T. Boone Pickens wind turbines.

Large scale wind power generation is still a boondoggle with current technology. It is a niche market that only gains widespread usage through government mandates and/or subsidies.

But maybe you were implying that by linking to Pickens.

[Uncle Ted]

Large scale wind power generation is still a boondoggle with current technology. It is a niche market that only gains widespread usage through government mandates and/or subsidies.

But maybe you were implying that by linking to Pickens.

I am also implying by "we" as we Texans:

Wind power in Texas grew very rapidly, 2400% from 1999 to 2007. In another large state, California, wind generation increased by 48% in the same period.

At this rate "we" are going to have all the wind power that we can use if we just have an extension cord long enough to reach the pan handle.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I had a good-natured argument with an Oklahoman many years ago about whether it was preferable to live in Tornado Alley or in earthquake-prone California--which natural disaster was preferable? But now the question is easier to answer, since Oklahoma is having substantially more earthquakes than California. No one is certain why, but fracking is suspected of being the cause. More analysis is currently being done, but I hope this proves to be simply an geologic anomaly.

[Uncle Ted]

I had a good-natured argument with an Oklahoman many years ago about whether it was preferable to live in Tornado Alley or in earthquake-prone California--which natural disaster was preferable? But now the question is easier to answer, since Oklahoma is having substantially more earthquakes than California. No one is certain why, but fracking is suspected of being the cause. More analysis is currently being done, but I hope this proves to be simply an geologic anomaly.

It is not the fracking that is causing the earthquakes... it is the disposal wells:

Does Fracking Cause Earthquakes?


Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” (a drilling process that injects millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into a well, cracking the rock and to release natural gas and oil) has only been known to rarely cause earthquakes.


But the disposal of drilling wastewater used in fracking has now been scientifically linked to earthquakes. The fluids used in fracking (and the wastewater that comes back up the well) is disposed of by injecting it into disposal wells deep underground. This is generally regarded as the safest, most cost-efficient way to get rid of it. But in some parts of the country, especially in the Barnett Shale area around Dallas-Fort Worth, it has also been causing earthquakes. And they’re growing both in number and strength.
[...]

http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/earthquake/

In the summer we call it...

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[byu71]

It is not the fracking that is causing the earthquakes... it is the disposal wells:



In the summer we call it...

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Seems reasonable that mother nature would not give up some of her goodies without inflicting some pain on the taker.

[Moliere]

I had a good-natured argument with an Oklahoman many years ago about whether it was preferable to live in Tornado Alley or in earthquake-prone California--which natural disaster was preferable? But now the question is easier to answer, since Oklahoma is having substantially more earthquakes than California. No one is certain why, but fracking is suspected of being the cause. More analysis is currently being done, but I hope this proves to be simply an geologic anomaly.

They are most likely due to fracking, however I wonder why Oklahoma has so many more than other fracking heavy regions like Pennsylvania, Texas and North Dakota

[Uncle Ted]

They are most likely due to fracking, however I wonder why Oklahoma has so many more than other fracking heavy regions like Pennsylvania, Texas and North Dakota

It is because Texas is God's country. I don't know about Pennsylvania and North Dakota, however, but who cares.

[Green Monstah]

Since this is now near and dear to my heart, I'll just concur that the suspected cause is not fracing itself, but the disposal wells--particularly in the Arbuckle formation north of OKC. There is not a ton of fracing going on near the source of the quakes.