Dive summary:
- While it is normally too expensive to clean up water used for fracking, major drilling companies have started reusing the contaminated water, sharply cutting the amount of energy required.
- Previously, companies found it cheaper to inject the wastewater deep underground but experts say as fracking grows, that option is likely to be reduced.
- While water currently provides the most effective material for splitting rock, companies and researchers are looking into the possibility of using propane gel or compressed air in the future.
From the article:
Companies are racing to find ways to recycle the water used in hydraulic fracturing, chasing an emerging market that could be worth billions of dollars.
From energy industry giants Halliburton Corp. HAL +0.33% and Schlumberger Ltd. SLB -1.36% to smaller outfits such as Ecologix Environmental Systems LLC, companies are pursing technologies to reuse the "frack water" that comes out of wells after hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking"—the process of using highly pressured water and chemicals to coax oil and gas out of shale-rock formations. ...
