Question

Hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, is the process by which materials are pumped underground to break up rock and release oil or natural gas. The materials include large amounts of water, sand, and chemicals. Natural gas and other fossil fuels take millions of years to form and therefore exist in limited amounts. Once a fossil fuel is used, it cannot be quickly replaced. At this time, most of the energy used in the United States is generated using fossil fuels, such as the natural gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing. The natural gas is used primarily to generate electricity. It also is used to heat about half the homes in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, however, has troubling environmental consequences that will be discussed in more detail later in this lesson. There is a debate about whether the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing outweighs the benefit of obtaining natural gas for energy.

How might hydraulic fracturing be used, and what methods do you think it uses, to obtain energy from Earth’s subsurface?

in a few sentences

Answer 1

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is used to access natural gas and oil trapped in deep rock formations by injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals. This process creates fractures in the rock, allowing the fossil fuels to flow more freely to the surface. The methods involve drilling vertical or horizontal wells into the Earth, followed by injecting the fracking fluid at high pressure to expand existing fractures or create new ones, thereby enhancing extraction efficiency.