A new study conducted on Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania and published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology concludes shale wells’ “energy return on investment” (or EROI)–the total amount of energy it takes to produce the energy that will be delivered to end users–is similar to that of coal. Meaning: it takes about the same amount of effort (i.e. energy) to produce equivalent levels of energy from natural gas and coal, but natural gas burns a lot cleaner, which makes it the preferred source of energy. Further meaning: fracking is good for the environment…
