Unconventional Extraction Debate
The easy oil is running out, so companies drill harder for tar sands and shale gas. Weigh the economic gains against the environmental costs, and see why different groups disagree.
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Drilling deeper
The easy oil and gas is running out. To meet demand, companies now reach for harder sources, like tar sands and shale gas. These can be extracted, but only at a greater cost to the environment. This module weighs up the debate around unconventional extraction.
Extraction words
Four ideas run through this topic:
What is fracking?
What is fracking?
- Cracking underground rock to release shale gas
- Pumping oil from an easy reserve
- Burning coal in a power station
- Building solar panels
Easy or hard?
Fuel can be reached in easier or harder ways.
Match the term
- Conventional extraction
- Unconventional extraction
- Tar sands
- Fracking
- Pumping fuel from an easy underground reserve
- Reaching harder fuel with newer, costlier methods
- Digging up oil-soaked sand and processing it
- Cracking rock with high-pressure liquid to free gas
Two sides of the debate
Unconventional extraction is argued over. On one side are the economic gains: more energy, jobs, and less reliance on imported fuel. On the other are the environmental costs: damaged landscapes, polluted water, small earth tremors, and more greenhouse gases. Different groups weigh these up differently.
Count the costs
Which THREE are ENVIRONMENTAL costs of unconventional extraction?
- Water can be polluted
- Landscapes and habitats are damaged
- Fracking can cause small earth tremors
- It creates new jobs
- It improves energy security
Who thinks what?
- An energy company
- A local resident
- An environmental group
- The government
- Wants to extract for profit and jobs
- Worries about pollution and tremors near home
- Opposes the carbon and habitat damage
- Weighs energy security against the risks
How fracking works
Put the steps of fracking in the right order.
- Drill a well down into the shale rock
- Pump in water, sand and chemicals at high pressure
- The high pressure cracks the rock
- Trapped gas flows out through the cracks
- Collect the gas at the surface
Complete the idea
As easy reserves run low, companies turn to _____ extraction. Tar sands are dug up, and shale gas is released by _____, which cracks the rock. These methods bring economic gains such as jobs and energy _____, but they also cause environmental _____ such as polluted water. Because the two sides disagree, it is a _____.
True or not?
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE about unconventional extraction.
- Fracking releases gas by cracking underground rock.
- Unconventional extraction can pollute water and damage habitats.
- Tar sands are a clean, harm-free source of energy.
- Unconventional extraction has no economic benefits at all.
- Everyone agrees that fracking should always go ahead.
The upside
Which is an ECONOMIC benefit of unconventional extraction?
- More energy security and new jobs
- More polluted rivers
- More earth tremors
- More habitat loss
Whose view?
A town is deciding whether to allow fracking nearby. Choose the best answer for each situation.
- An energy company presents its case. What does it stress?
- A local resident speaks at the meeting. What worries them most?
- How should a fair decision be reached?
Should it go ahead?
A country is deciding whether to allow more unconventional extraction. Evaluate whether it should go ahead.
- Give one economic benefit of unconventional extraction
- Give one environmental cost
- Explain how two different groups might disagree
- Reach a balanced judgement