Putting Things Into Perspective: Water, Fracking, And Green Energy

Just how much water does fracking require? Lots. But not as much as is required to produce/manufacture biodiesel.

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Water is a precious resource: So, conservationists should smile at how little water fracking requires versus other energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Department and the Ground Water Protection Council, it typically takes three gallons of water to produce 1 million British Thermal Units of energy from deep-shale natural gas/fracking. Nuclear power requires 11 gallons/million BTUs. Coal: 23 gallons. Corn ethanol? A whopping 15,800 gallons. And soy biodiesel requires nearly triple that amount: 44,500 gallons per million BTUs — 14,833 times the water needed for fracking.

But what about ground water pollution? The hysteria that fracking poisons drinking water lacks one key ingredient: Evidence. As former EPA chief Lisa Jackson testified before Congress in May 2011: “I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.”