Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi I am in the 9th grade and researching hydraulic fracturing in the science research class at my high school. I was first interested in hydraulic fracturing when I saw how much potential it has to solve current energy needs and also how controversial it is. I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on any research I could do related to hydraulic fracturing.

RyanWalsh,

Welcome to science buddies. You have proposed a very interesting topic. My initial research has shown me that hydraulic fracturing has been in use as a well drilling technique for many years. However, the environmental impacts are still somewhat unclear. If you search this topic on google scholar: http://scholar.google.com/ you will find many areas of study. If I can suggest a topic, one area that jumped out at me was the potential for the unintended migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface within a given radius of drilling operations. By simulating a drill site with a scale model and testing materials of various permiability to represent different geological formations I would think you could measure the potential for surface leaching. Keep in mind, this idea is just off the top of my head and significant research would need to be done to set up all the issues and determine feasibility. Also, I think it could get rather lengthy and possibly expensive.