The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment will host a public talk, “To Frac or Not to Frac: Risks and Rewards of Natural Gas Production from Shale,” on Jan. 31.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment will host a public talk, “To Frac or Not to Frac: Risks and Rewards of Natural Gas Production from Shale,” on Jan. 31.
The talk, by Larry Murdoch, Ph.D, professor of environmental engineering and earth sciences at Clemson University, will be at 5 p.m. in the Tate Turner Kuralt Auditorium in the UNC School of Social Work, 325 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill.
The event is free and open to the public.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique used to release natural gas from deep deposits in shale. The recent discovery of organic-rich, potentially gas-bearing shale in central North Carolina has prompted widespread discussion about the potential risks and benefits of exploration and production using fracking in the state.
The talk will address topics ranging from economic benefits and concerns about environmental risks, to the geology of gas deposits and the technology used in hydraulic fracturing. Murdoch will also discuss factors associated with exploiting these resources, which extend beyond the fracking process itself.
Murdoch has worked for more than 20 years on applications and analyses of environmental hydraulic fracturing, a technique used to improve contaminated ground water. He has expertise in hydraulic fracturing, assessment and remediation of ground water contamination, and broader hydrogeological and environmental processes that inform his perspective on fracking for gas production.
Institute for the Environment contact: Katie Hall, (919) 962-0965,mchall@email.unc.edu