Abstract
The environmental impacts of fracking on the atmosphere are complex. Air pollution is caused by smoke, dust, and vapors from the hydraulic fracturing process itself, and also by the later combustion of the produced fossil fuel, which releases greenhouse gas (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere that contributes to global warming and climate change. Coal combustion is a far larger GHG contributor than natural gas and petroleum produced by fracking, but coal is mined. The issues of greenhouse gas and climate change are presented and discussed in later chapters.
The air pollution associated with fracking and other oil & gas operations falls into three main categories: (1) particulate matter, (2) organic gases, and (3) nitrogen oxides. Particulate matter or PM is defined by the EPA as a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. These are generally divided into two size classes: PM10 consists of particulates with diameters of 10 micrometers or less, and PM2.5 consists of even smaller particles with diameters equal to or less than 2 ½ micrometers. Broadly speaking, PM10 is dust, and PM2.5 is smoke. The smaller the particle, the deeper it can travel into the lungs. Sources of PM include diesel and other engine exhaust, tire, brake and road dust, and silica dust from proppant sand. Organic gases include volatile compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, and light hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, and butane. Nitrogen oxides or NOx are a byproduct of high-temperature combustion.
Keywords
- Particulate matter
- Organic gases
- Volatiles
- Nitrogen oxides
- Greenhouse gas
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Soeder, D.J. (2021). Fracking and Air Quality. In: Fracking and the Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59121-2_5
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