Q&A – Energy crisis reignites debate about fracking in Germany (2024)

FAQs

Q&A – Energy crisis reignites debate about fracking in Germany? ›

Today, as the debate on fracking has resurfaced due to the energy crisis, a majority of the population is still against using the technology. In an infratest dimap poll from August 2022, 56 percent of respondents opposed fracking in Germany (similar results in a Civey poll from July).

ifo researcher Karen Pittel sees unconventional fracking as offering limited potential for Germany's security of supply. “According to economic estimates, fracking could cover around 6 to 12 percent of Germany's gas consumption,” says Karen Pittel, Director of the ifo Center for Energy, Climate, and Resources.

Without rigorous safeguards, fracking could lead to poisoned water and blighted landscapes. Fracking also uses a lot of water. Each and every well requires millions of gallons of water – In arid places like the West, this could mean less water for fish and wildlife.

Summary: The surge in energy prices since Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reduced the energy-intensive sector's production in Germany, although the non-energy intensive sector's production has held up thanks in part to firms' efforts to improve energy efficiency.

Final answer: The fracking debate involves a conflict between the economic and energy benefits it offers and the environmental and health risks it poses.

Fracking has been a controversial issue in German society, largely due to residents' worries about the environmental risks when extraction takes place in a country which is much more densely populated than prominent producing regions like the state of Texas in the U.S..

In June 2016 German politicians passed a law banning fracking, with limited exceptions for scientific and non-commercial projects.

Fracking has been blamed for leaking millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Fracking is also associated with other airborne hydrocarbons that can cause health and respiratory issues. Fracking uses large amounts of water, which can become contaminated and affect local groundwater.

Fracking increases the rate at which water, petroleum, or natural gas can be recovered from subterranean wells. Fracking also helped to revitalize local economies in some parts of the United States. Most of the opposition to fracking revolves around its potential negative impact on the environment.

Why is Germany currently facing an energy crisis? ›

The loss of cheap Russian natural gas needed to power factories “painfully damaged the business model of the German economy,” Kullmann told The Associated Press. “We're in a situation where we're being strongly affected — damaged — by external factors.”

Over-reliance on imported gas is the main cause of Germany's present energy crisis, with a shortage of nuclear energy due to outages in half of the French nuclear fleet as a secondary factor that contributes to higher electricity prices.

The nation has been phasing out conventional fuels and phasing in less reliable, less abundant renewable energy sources, resulting in higher prices, shortages, and a greater reliance on adversarial nations like Russia and China.

Natural gas is clean energy

But natural gas has also been an economically viable means of reducing carbon pollution. Fracked natural gas burns more cleanly than coal and oil, so the net result is less carbon and other particulates. By replacing coal with gas, America has led the world in reducing carbon pollution.

How does fracking worsen climate change? Fracking often releases large amounts of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas that traps heat at least 87 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Fracked shale gas wells, for example, may have methane leakage rates of as high as 9 percent.

Higher domestic production of oil and gas from fracking has helped stimulate economic activity within the US itself. An increasing number of jobs have become available in various sectors related to fracking such as drilling and transportation.

Germany loves gas, but fracking is banned

But Europe's largest economy banned shale gas fracking at home in 2017. The ban, which was due to be reviewed in 2021 but remains in place, extends to deep-lying "unconventional" shale gas deposits that can only be extracted through hydraulic fracturing.

Unveiling the Potential: US Fracking's Impact on Energy Landscape. Fracking plays a significant role in shaping the current energy landscape in the United States. Forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7.4%, the global hydraulic fracturing market is estimated to expand from $52.1 billion in 2023 to $74.4 billion by 2028.

Fracking is done across the globe. Russia, Canada, Venezuela and Australia have the most well sites using the process. Other countries, like France and Belgium, have banned fracking altogether.

Due to environmental and geological concerns, European countries banned fracking one after the other: France in 2011, Denmark and Bulgaria in 2012, the Netherlands in 2015 and Germany in 2017.