Fracking Is Going Electric and Not Everyone Is Impressed
The switch from diesel is starting to pick up steam as oil-service providers try to keep up with the energy transition—while still pumping out fossil fuels.
Halliburton's all-electric frack fleet, which it says can be powered from the grid, natural gas reciprocating engines or with low-emission turbines.
Low-carbon fracking—as oxymoronic as it sounds—is gaining traction across the U.S. But since it still extracts the very oil and gas that fossil-fuel critics want the world to stop consuming altogether, not everyone’s convinced.
The process of fracturing shale rock formations under high pressure by blasting water, sand and chemicals deep underground is an inherently dirty business. Once a typical shale well is drilled, a frack fleet descends on the site, hooking up a series of giant diesel pumps that can run uninterrupted overnight. At any one time, there can be upwards of 220 such fleets working across the U.S.