Fracking and Sustainable Energy Review

This assignment provides a comprehensive review of the impact of fracking on sustainable energy. It includes a list of relevant academic papers, conference presentations, and online resources that discuss the topic from different perspectives. The review covers various aspects of fracking, including its history, environmental concerns, economic implications, and political debates. It also touches on the COP21 Paris Agreement and the real history of fracking. This assignment is suitable for students studying energy, environmental science, or related fields.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Analysing the main outcomes of COP21 Paris..................................................................1
2. Explaining whether COP21 Paris should be considered or not for starting new sustainability
policies or actions...................................................................................................................3
3. Literature articles related to the financial incentives existing for sustainability measures 4
4. Emergence of Fracking Technologies worldwide..............................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Sustainable energy is that form of energy which can be used again. This type of energy
does not affect the environment. It is basically divided into two types, i.e., renewable energy and
energy efficiency. The most common form of such type of energy includes, wind, solar, and
water other than this, there is also bioenergy and geothermal energy as well. This report will
focus on COP21 Paris. It is an agreement which is designed to protect environment worldwide.
The report will explain about COP21 Paris significance and will also analyse its main outcome.
For starting or introducing any new sustainability policies or actions, COP21 Paris should be
considered or not is also discussed. Other than these topics, this study will focus on literature
articles related to the financial incentives existing for sustainability measures and emergence of
fracking technologies worldwide related to sustainable energy.
MAIN BODY
1. Analysing the main outcomes of COP21 Paris
COP21 refers to the 12st association of the Conference of the Parties (COP) held in
Paris. It is basically a Paris Agreement with the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), which helps in dealing with emission from greenhouse-gas and its
mitigation, adaptation and finance, for the upcoming year 2020 (The Paris Agreement, 2015).
The Paris Agreement's main aim is to maintain the global average temperature below 2°C and to
limit the increase to 1.5°C. Under this agreement, each country should determine, plan and
regularly report on the contribution which they are doing to minimize the impact of global
warming.
As per this Paris agreement or COP21, Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agrees to set up a Capacity-building Initiative for
Transparency (CBIT). The main aim is to improve the capacities of processing nation in order to
meet the increased transparency that is required for this agreement. Transparency is a model that
helps in supporting and helping in flexibility for those country to made their contributions
Main outcomes of the agreement or COP21 includes following:
 Maintenance of global temperature below a standard level, i.e., 2°C which is above pre
industrial average and helps to maintain it. This will help in decreasing the impact of
climate change worldwide.
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 This agreement also helps in keeping the balance between the change in climate and
environment and helps in fostering the environmental condition recoil and decrease in
greenhouse gas emissions development.
 It also helps in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in environment.
 Committing to all nation to develop new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
every 5 years, which will help in checking the overall progression.
This Paris agreement or COP21 will be very helpful in protecting the environment
effectively by maintaining the global temperature to an appropriate level. From this agreement it
will become easy for countries to make development in their system as well. The 2 main aim of
this agreement is to minimize the emissions and to maintain the net greenhouse gas neutrality
that is a balance between anthropogenic emissions (Robbins, 2016).
This COP21 helps in setting out strategies in order to ensure the all the emitted gases will
be absorbed by forests, lands and oceans. This agreement targets at increasing the global
response climate change and reducing the impact of its threat factor. Other than this, it also helps
in improving the quality of various nation to trade with the impacts of climate change on their
environment effectively. To achieve their goals and targets, developing appropriate financial
flows, adopting new technology framework and an improved capacity building framework
should be used. This technique will definitely help in reducing the global warming and climate
change impact on environment (Buxton, 2016).
Today, one of the major issues includes rise in temperature globally which increases
effect of factors like, global warming and climate change. These two factors can have a huge
negative impact and to reduce this Paris Agreement will help a lot in dealing with such
situations. From the outcomes of this COP21, it will become easier for world to reduce this effect
and can contribute in protecting the environment. From the such type of agreement, it will be
beneficial for the world to take some strict actions towards environment which can help them in
protecting our earth from these harmful gases which is getting emitted from green house
respectively (Hoad, 2015). This Paris agreement or COP21 Paris is an effective measure that has
been taken by the government in order to save environment.
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2. Explaining whether COP21 Paris should be considered or not for starting new sustainability
policies or actions
It is very important to consider all the aspect which can have a huge impact on
developing or starting a new sustainability policies or actions. The geographical pattern of world
is rapidly changing which can have a huge impact on environment. The overall aim of such
policies or actions is to advance global development and uptake of key technologies to limit the
increase in the global temperature. For starting new sustainability policies in any country, this
Paris Agreement or COP21 Paris can be a great option to look after before designing any policy.
This will help in making these policies effective and impactful that helps in reducing these
emissions to large extent (COP21 Paris- Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2015).
There are various policies which can be made as per the guidelines of COP21, for
example, they have set a guideline for the emission of harmful gases in environment by various
factories, vehicles, greenhouse gases, which can help in reducing the greenhouse gases emission
in environment, such as, methane, clorofluorocarbon (CFC), etc. which can be very harmful for
human being and for plants and animals as well. Other than this, policies or actions which can
assist in secure and affordable energy and smarter use of energy can also be initiated in order to
enhance the quality of environment. For proper implementation of this strategy it is very
important to have good financial support (Chu, Cui and Liu, 2017). From COP21 it will be very
beneficiary for the world in minimizing GHG emissions by year 2025-2030 possibly.
Energy empower human beings in many ways, for example, by increasing productivity,
transforming food, etc. Globally, discharge of greenhouse gases (GHG), mostly from the
production and use of fossil fuels, are affecting weather condition to a large extent. Recent
regional changes in climate, particularly increases in temperature, have impacted hydrological
systems and terrestrial and marine ecosystems (Van Der Schoor and Scholtens, 2015).
Implementation of COP21 Paris before starting any new sustainable policies or actions
will be a great idea in making improvement in the existing as well new strategy that is related to
the environment and sustainable energy.
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There are various factors which has to be considered carefully before implementing any
new strategy or policies related to sustainable energy, for example,
 Increasing globalisation: This can have a huge impact in the development of any
policies or regulations which can help any country to reduce this impact effectively and
efficiently. According to COP21 agreement, it has been determined that increased level
of globalization has increased the use of sustainable energy effectively.
 Shifting responsibilities for governments: There is a great role of government as well
for ensuring and proper monitoring of new policies and make sure that they are
appropriate and effective. Different countries can work according to the Paris agreement
which and can check whether their government is working properly or not in order to
protect the environment. (Shaikh, and et.al., 2014).
 The emerging information technology revolution: This can also have a huge impact on
the environmental policies which is very useful for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Various new technological advancement can be used for making effective policies which
can help in making sustainable energy. Strategies and plans that has been mentioned in
this COP21 Paris, can be improved by the can use effective technology in order to
develop techniques to invent sustainable energy.
 Public participation in decision-making Process: Public involvement can assist a
country in making effective decisions which can assist in investing new and improved
policies which can be very helpful in protecting the environment. Involvement of more
people will be very essential as well as important in saving the environment.
The importance of the COP21 is due to the fact that this conference is expected to reach a
new global agreement that will bind all countries. It also helps in preserving the earth's
biodiversity by taking important measures towards environment safety (Shariatzadeh, Mandal
and Srivastava, 2015). This will help in dealing with the worst impact of climate changes which
can occur, for example, severe drought condition, floods, tsunami, etc.
3. Literature articles related to the financial incentives existing for sustainability measures
According to Mazur (2016), sustainable energy is that which is generated from sources
like, wind, solar, and water, etc. Different forms of this energy, for example, energy efficiency
(EE) and renewable energy (RE), is becoming so important and popular among people. Ethical
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principles are increasingly very in order to influence energy policy to various nation. The role of
tax incentives existing for sustainability measures helps in encouraging energy efficiency
worldwide. Tax incentives plays a crucial role in the process of decision making which has a
huge impact on the development of sustainable energy. Improvement in the availability RE and
EE tax incentives can help in resulting high business which helps in considering the
implementation of energy efficiency or renewable energy projects effectively. Parry (2017)
stated that, there is a huge gap between the consumer's actual investment in EE and the total
investment which is being appeared in the interest is known as rationale for energy efficiency
policies.
As per the view of Hoad (2015), Financial incentives (FIs) helps in addressing market
barriers which result in under-investment in energy efficiency. In addition, by promoting more
energy-efficiency equipment to customers, FI programs can help in increasing consumer's
knowledge about future savings potentials of this sustainable energy. Involvement in an
incentive system also assist in confering credibility on a technological level. This will help in
achieving the target of safe environment by increasing the use of sustainable energy.
Shaikh, and et.al. (2014) said that, by many government financial incentives have also
been implemented which resulted in the increase in the penetration of market and reduction in
cost from economies of scale and more efficient technology by increasing customer spending
and creating jobs. This financial incentives (FI) can be a great options for adopting energy
efficiency measures
Schirrmeister (2014) stated that, energy is very important to life. Energy supply and
demand should be treated with macro and micro-economic approach respectively. There are
various measures which government can take for the financial incentives existing for
sustainability measures, such as, they can include tax credits or deductions and subsidized loans.
According to Mazur (2016), there are various approaches such as Energy-Efficiency Resource
Standards (EERS) that assist in establishing long-term targets for energy savings. This EERS can
be a great idea to implement for sustainability measures.
As per the view of Chu, Cui and Liu (2017), financial incentives existing for
sustainability measures plays an important for the development of sustainable energy. As this
will help in the improvement of energy efficiency and renewable energy which is very essential
as it does not affect the environment and can be very helpful in generating solar energy. Akhtar
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and Rehmani (2015) said that, for sustainable energy development, it is very crucial to have
proper financial support so that it can be implemented effectively. In this way, it helps in
generating RE al larger extent. Key to successful government intervention can be achieved by
planning and designing the proper policies for implementation. These Energy-efficiency
programs can be financed by taxes on specific products, with the revenue directed to FI programs
(Country Review of Energy-Efficiency Financial Incentives in the Residential Sector, 2014).
4. Emergence of Fracking Technologies worldwide
Fracking is a technological process which is used to release the gas inside earth's rock
surface by applying high pressure water mixture. It is basically a drilling process in which water,
sand and chemicals are drilled into the rock at high pressure which helps the gas to flow out to
the head of the well immediately due to the pressure. This process of fracking can be carried out
through various methods, such as, vertically drilling the rock layer on earth surface
(Schirrmeister, 2014). This fracking technology can help to maintain the development of
sustainable energy effectively. From the use of this technique it becomes easy to develop
sustainable energy which has increased it uses among people as well.
This fracking is also known as hydraulic fracturing which was discovered in United
states. This technique is a break through which has helped US in becoming world's largest gas
and oil producer (Bjørnland, Nordvik and Rohrer, 2016). This technique was first developed in
1862 during the battle of Fredericksburg VA. This extraction method, i.e., fracking technology,
was enforced by enclosing a torpedo in a case made of iron. This invention increased oil
production by 12 % in United states at that time.
In terms of sustainable energy, this technology has played an important role. This
technology is improving efficiency and reducing the environmental impact, including emissions,
etc. which is very essential in protecting the environment.
Commercial Hydraulic Fracking: Development of fracking started in the 1860s. It was first
developed or invented in United States.
Modern day Fracking Technology: Beginning of modern day hydraulic fracturing started in the
1940s. Modern day fracking was originated by creating a new technique, which took hydraulic
fracturing and combined it with horizontal drilling which is known modern fracking technique
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(The Real History of Fracking, 2015). This technology is not new to the world. It is approx. 100
years old. It is being renovated, innovated and improved over the time (Mazur, 2016).
This fracking technology has combined a lot of technology into it which has helped it to
make a significant change in it, such as, by combining horizontal drilling and other
improvements to harvest gas and oil that previously were thought commercially unfeasible to
access (Zhiltsov and Semenov, 2016). There is a huge positive impact of this fracking
technology as it has bought an unconventional revolution in oil and gas which has helped the
country in enhancing their economy to a large extent. There is also some negative impact as well
of this process, for example, shale oil and gas development can create risk and it can lead to
various factors, such as:
 Increase in the engine exhaust from vehicle traffic
 Discharge from diesel-powered pumps that is being used to power equipment (How Has
Fracking Changed Our Future? 2015).
Fracturing technology is now used extensively all over the world. There has been a
significant improvement in the technology of fracking in last 50 years. Various types of fracture
treatments have been discovered over the time. Due to the variability in geology and geo-
mechanics, each natural gas reservoir is unique in nature (The Real History of Fracking, 2015).
Depending upon the purpose of result, there will be different types of hydraulic fracturing
treatments. Recent developments of fracture technology coupled with horizontal drilling which
allowed numerous tight gas reservoirs to yield economic volumes on natural gas. These
developments in the technology has significantly added natural gas resources to the country’s
energy resource base (Akhtar and Rehmani, 2015).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is very essential to maintain a balance
between the environment and its global temperature effectively. This will help in protecting the
environment as well as earth which is very crucial for everyone. COP21 Paris or Paris
Agreement helps in making various policies, which can help in maintaining the global increase
in temperature which leads to the global warming and climate change respectively. It has also
explained the importance of this agreement which can be used in making new sustainable
policies related to energy. Other than this, it also discussed about the literature articles that is
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related to the financial incentives that are present for sustainability measures and also explained
the development of Fracking Technologies worldwide.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akhtar, F. and Rehmani, M.H., 2015. Energy replenishment using renewable and traditional
energy resources for sustainable wireless sensor networks: A review. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. 45. pp.769-784.
Bjørnland, H.C., Nordvik, F. and Rohrer, M., 2016, April. How flexible is US shale oil
production? Evidence from North Dakota. In Presentation at conference on’Oil, Middle
East, and the Global Economy’, University of Southern California (Vol. 1).
Buxton, N., 2016. COP 21 Charades: spin, Lies and Real Hope in Paris. Globalizations. 13(6).
pp.934-937.
Chu, S., Cui, Y. and Liu, N., 2017. The path towards sustainable energy. Nature materials,
16(1), p.16.
Hoad, D., 2015. Reflections on small island states and the international climate change
negotiations (COP21, Paris, 2015). Island Studies Journal. 10(2). pp.259-262.
Mazur, A., 2016. How did the fracking controversy emerge in the period 2010-2012?. Public
Understanding of Science. 25(2). pp.207-222.
Parry, B., 2017. The climate games: Space, politics and resistance at the COP21 Paris. In Art and
the City (pp. 148-166). Routledge.
Robbins, A., 2016. How to understand the results of the climate change summit: Conference of
Parties21 (COP21) Paris 2015.
Schirrmeister, M., 2014. Controversial futures—discourse analysis on utilizing the “fracking”
technology in Germany. European Journal of Futures Research. 2(1). p.38.
Shaikh, P.H. and et.al., 2014. A review on optimized control systems for building energy and
comfort management of smart sustainable buildings. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews. 34. pp.409-429.
Shariatzadeh, F., Mandal, P. and Srivastava, A.K., 2015. Demand response for sustainable
energy systems: A review, application and implementation strategy. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. 45. pp.343-350.
Van Der Schoor, T. and Scholtens, B., 2015. Power to the people: Local community initiatives
and the transition to sustainable energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 43.
pp.666-675.
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Zhiltsov, S.S. and Semenov, A.V., 2016. Shale Gas: History of Development. In Shale Gas:
Ecology, Politics, Economy (pp. 9-16). Springer, Cham.
Online
COP21 Paris- Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.c2es.org/content/cop-21-paris/>
How Has Fracking Changed Our Future?. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/big-
energy-question/how-has-fracking-changed-our-future/>
The Paris Agreement. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf>
The Real History Of Fracking. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Real-History-Of-Fracking.html>
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