The Fracking process uses vast quantities of water,
Water resources are in short supply worldwide. Singapore has to import some of theirs and recycles waste water.
Here in NW England you may consider that we have plenty of the wet stuff, yet we still experience water shortages at times. When a commodity becomes scarce the price of it increases, so 'possible' reduction in gas prices will be partly offset by water price increases, as expensive water recycling becomes neccessary. Water recycling plants will add to the infrastructure needed to support fracking. The flares at the well sites pollute the air in the vicinity. In our densly populated nation, we know what the industrial revolution pollution did to the health of recent past generations.
To get the idea of how much water the process uses I found this -
"As many as 25 fracture stages (per horizontal leg) may be involved in preparing a single site for production, each requiring injection of more than 400,000 gallons of water—a possible total of more than 10 million gallons before the well is fully operational. A portion of the injected water flows back to the surface, heavily contaminated with the fracking chemicals and others it has absorbed from the shale. Depending on the local geology, this “return water” may also include radioactive elements."
The extraction of methane may well keep our electricity supply stable, but you may be faced with the choice between 'keeping the lights on' and 'turning on a tap'.
Hobson's choice - sit in the dark or die of thirst, (whilst wearing your gas mask)
