UM-Flint professor speaks up about national energy concerns
Josh Henschke
Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: Campus
A UM-Flint professor has recently had a column published in The Detroit News, discussing clean fuel and the limitations that are being set by Congress. In his article, Mark Perry, a professor of finance said that the United States can thank their success with finding natural gas and clean fuel due to technology.
“If you had to capture the success of America's premium clean-burning fuel in one word, that word would be technology,” Perry said. “Not since the great drilling boom that followed World War II has U.S. production of natural gas attracted as much attention as it gets today. Gas production is increasing at a rate not seen in decades, driving down prices and challenging coal's long-held dominance in electricity production.”
He also attributes a higher production of natural gas to a new technique called hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a process that fractures rocks in order to obtain gas or water in a more efficient and environmentally friendly fashion. A mixture of water, sand, and chemicals which has an enormous amount of pressure that breaks shale formations in the ground which allows much easier access to natural gas deposits several miles underground.
“Technology has developed hydraulic fracturing, which has been proved to not harm the environment,” Perry said. “It has proved to be effective, and it also doesn’t affect the groundwater in the process. Hydraulic fracturing has boosted natural gas production by 40 percent, so it speaks for itself.”
Also, the production of natural gas has been so successful in its abundance that the United States natural gas reserves contain more energy than all of Saudi Arabia’s oil energy. Congress wants to set limitations on how operations will be overseen and how much the environment will be affected by hydraulic fracturing.
“Democrats have introduced measures in the House and Senate that would place the drilling method under federal oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA,” Perry said. “Regulation of natural gas drilling currently resides with the individual states.” Congress is also worried about how much damage the liquid being poured into the ground will affect the groundwater. There have been no reported cases of groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing. Liquid from hydraulic fracturing would have to travel thousands of feet through thick layers of shale in order to reach the groundwater.
For more information on the production of natural gas and clean energy, visit Perry’s blog at http://www.mjperry.blogspot.com or he can also be reached at his office located at 4173 in the White Building. For the original article, please visit http://detnews.com/article/20100106/OPINION01/1060312/Commentary--Prevent-a-cap-on-clean-fuel.
“If you had to capture the success of America's premium clean-burning fuel in one word, that word would be technology,” Perry said. “Not since the great drilling boom that followed World War II has U.S. production of natural gas attracted as much attention as it gets today. Gas production is increasing at a rate not seen in decades, driving down prices and challenging coal's long-held dominance in electricity production.”
He also attributes a higher production of natural gas to a new technique called hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a process that fractures rocks in order to obtain gas or water in a more efficient and environmentally friendly fashion. A mixture of water, sand, and chemicals which has an enormous amount of pressure that breaks shale formations in the ground which allows much easier access to natural gas deposits several miles underground.
“Technology has developed hydraulic fracturing, which has been proved to not harm the environment,” Perry said. “It has proved to be effective, and it also doesn’t affect the groundwater in the process. Hydraulic fracturing has boosted natural gas production by 40 percent, so it speaks for itself.”
Also, the production of natural gas has been so successful in its abundance that the United States natural gas reserves contain more energy than all of Saudi Arabia’s oil energy. Congress wants to set limitations on how operations will be overseen and how much the environment will be affected by hydraulic fracturing.
“Democrats have introduced measures in the House and Senate that would place the drilling method under federal oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA,” Perry said. “Regulation of natural gas drilling currently resides with the individual states.” Congress is also worried about how much damage the liquid being poured into the ground will affect the groundwater. There have been no reported cases of groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing. Liquid from hydraulic fracturing would have to travel thousands of feet through thick layers of shale in order to reach the groundwater.
For more information on the production of natural gas and clean energy, visit Perry’s blog at http://www.mjperry.blogspot.com or he can also be reached at his office located at 4173 in the White Building. For the original article, please visit http://detnews.com/article/20100106/OPINION01/1060312/Commentary--Prevent-a-cap-on-clean-fuel.
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