Carbon Briefing: how much of our water will fracking use?
Fracking uses a lot of water. But no-one seems able to identify quite how much of a problem that might be for the UK. Will the country’s regulatory system will be able to cope – and do we have enough water in the first place?
A small community in Banhart, Texas, has some lessons for the UK’s future shale gas industry, says the Guardian – it’s running out of water as a result of the fracking process. But the allegation that fracking uses too much water is “simply false” according to pro-shale gas advocate, Matt Ridley, in the Times.
So who’s right?
Fracking and water use
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping a fluid made of water mixed with chemicals at high pressure into a well. The fluid creates fractures in the rock, making it possible to get the gas out.
Here’s what the process looks like:
Image - Screen Shot 2013-08-16 At 10.25.25 (note)
Source: The hydraulic fracking water cycle, Environmental Protection Agency
One shale gas well might require anything from a few thousand to 20 million litres of water, according to the International Energy Agency. To put that in context, 20 million litres is equivalent to more than six hundred truckloads of water. Quite a lot, in other words.
So where’s it going to come from? A shale gas company could be using the water from a surface water source – a river, lake or the sea – or from groundwater. If the source is a long way away, that could mean convoys of trucks going back and forward between the site and its source.
Texas: local impacts, local stresses
In Texas, the source of the Guardian report, oil is such a significant part of the economy it’s known as Texas Tea. But according to the Guardian, fracking for shale oil and shale gas is putting water supplies under pressure in parts of a state that’s already struggling with drought.
Ridley dismisses the Guardian’s concerns, arguing:
“…in Texas one per cent of water use is for fracking; in the US as a whole it is 0.3 per cent – less than is used by golf courses.”
The figure of 0.3 per cent nationally – which appears to be based on a calculation by US website The Energy Collective – sounds fairly insignificant. But it doesn’t tell us much about what the impacts might be on a local scale.
American NGO, Ceres, released a recent study claiming that nearly half of oil and gas wells in the USA are located in water-stressed areas – most prominently in Texas and Colorado. A research paper in the journal Environmental Science and Technology agreed fracking accounts for less than one per cent of water taken from sources in Texas. But it concluded:
“Despite the low overall net water use fraction, impacts of water use can be much greater at smaller spatial scales.”
In some rural counties in Texas, shale gas could more than double water use, the paper says. In an area already suffering from drought, that could be a problem – and small communities like Banhart would suffer.
Shale gas and water in the UK
In this country, the shale gas industry is only just getting going. Environmental regulator, the Environment Agency (EA), is still going through the process of consulting on the rules that will apply to shale gas exploration and water use.
Under the regulations, a shale gas operator wishing to take a lot of water directly from a river, lake or groundwater will have to apply to the EA for a licence. A licence will only be granted if the water can be taken in a way that “doesn’t harm the environment or other users”, the EA says. Otherwise, no dice. Alternatively, a gas company could make a deal where a water company sells it the water.
The safeguards sound sensible. There could be a problem, however – what if there isn’t enough water available? Jim Marshall of water industry group, Water UK, tells Carbon Brief:
“In the south east in particular the current water resource is fully allocated, if not over-allocated. So any new demand has to be factored in quite carefully”.
The south east of England, where a portion of the country’s shale gas resource is located, is already suffering from water stress. Overall, there is a lot of uncertainty, both about how much water fracking will need in the future, and about how much will be available.
And just to add to our our problems, there’s another issue on the horizon – climate change. As temperatures rise, the country needs more water. The Committee on Climate Change, which is tasked with advising the government on climate policy, recently highlighted that water shortages could threaten the country’s ability to produce its own crops in just ten to fifteen years. Will shale gas add to the problem?
How do you solve a problem like shale gas?
Marshall is optimistic. He says Water UK is working with the water companies to assess how much water could be needed over the next few decades and ensure the system is equipped to cope. He adds:
“In the scheme of things, the water use [from shale gas] is not massive. But it is a new demand and that has to be taken account of”.
The system for regulating water extraction is already under pressure, however. WWF-UK describes the current licensing system as “crazy” because it doesn’t take environmental protection into account – and argues it could potentially give water companies permission to take water out of the system that isn’t there. The government is meant to be reforming the system, but it’s been criticised for dragging its heels.
One solution is the possibility that shale gas companies could reuse their fracking water. In Texas, moves are afoot to encourage shale gas companies to recycle. But it’s complicated because of the chemicals involved and that creates technical challenges in how to handle the water. Propane could also be used instead of water, but environmentalists aren’t keen on that idea because of the chemicals that may be added and the risk of explosion.
Overall, the negative impacts of water extraction may be localised – over here as in the United States. This country isn’t suffering from drought in the same way as Texas is – but as climate change kicks in, temperatures are predicted to rise and water resources may come under more pressure. In the longer term, however many regulatory systems the country puts in place, if the water isn’t there, it isn’t there. No amount of licensing systems will change that.