INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing occurs when high pressure fluids primarily consisting of water and sand are pumped at high pressure into subsurface formations,typically shale that contains natural gas and/or oil.The...INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing occurs when high pressure fluids primarily consisting of water and sand are pumped at high pressure into subsurface formations,typically shale that contains natural gas and/or oil.The high pressure fluid causes the rock to fracture.The new fractures increase the surface area of the shale and better interconnect previously existing fractures,allowing more natural gas and/or oil to be pumped from the formation.Modern hydraulic fracturing,referred to as“fracking,”is an evolving technology that largely began after 2000 and has significantly increased natural gas production in the United States in the past five years with corresponding decreases in natural gas prices.展开更多
A passive rainwater harvesting technique was used to design a sustainable landscape for a residential lot located in the desert. The design was adapted to the Desert Southwest region of the United States based on thir...A passive rainwater harvesting technique was used to design a sustainable landscape for a residential lot located in the desert. The design was adapted to the Desert Southwest region of the United States based on thirty years of daily historical climate data including precipitation and reference evapotranspiration (ET0). Four cities including El Paso, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Phoenix, AZ, and Pahrump, NV, were selected to represent the area. The residential lot was broken up into micro-watersheds reflecting the runoff of water from each separate portion of the house roof, driveway, and lawn area. The paper explains in detail the design steps for one of the micro-watersheds where water retention and infiltration structures were distributed throughout the soil area to capture stormwater runoff close to its source. A passive rainwater capture landscape was obtained by using the stormwater captured in the infiltration structures and stored in the surrounding soil. Native vegetation (shrubs and trees) will use this water exclusively for growth. These plants will not require watering once their root establishment period has passed, except in extreme droughts. Meanwhile, stormwater discharge from the lot will decrease and the groundwater recharge will increase. Results indicate that the current urban water budget can be made sustainable by replacing watering of landscape by municipal water with harvested stormwater. This results in a relatively lush and shady environment even in desert climates. The success is an artifact of the tendency of urban watersheds to increase the volume of stormwater relative to pre-development conditions.展开更多
文摘INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing occurs when high pressure fluids primarily consisting of water and sand are pumped at high pressure into subsurface formations,typically shale that contains natural gas and/or oil.The high pressure fluid causes the rock to fracture.The new fractures increase the surface area of the shale and better interconnect previously existing fractures,allowing more natural gas and/or oil to be pumped from the formation.Modern hydraulic fracturing,referred to as“fracking,”is an evolving technology that largely began after 2000 and has significantly increased natural gas production in the United States in the past five years with corresponding decreases in natural gas prices.
文摘A passive rainwater harvesting technique was used to design a sustainable landscape for a residential lot located in the desert. The design was adapted to the Desert Southwest region of the United States based on thirty years of daily historical climate data including precipitation and reference evapotranspiration (ET0). Four cities including El Paso, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Phoenix, AZ, and Pahrump, NV, were selected to represent the area. The residential lot was broken up into micro-watersheds reflecting the runoff of water from each separate portion of the house roof, driveway, and lawn area. The paper explains in detail the design steps for one of the micro-watersheds where water retention and infiltration structures were distributed throughout the soil area to capture stormwater runoff close to its source. A passive rainwater capture landscape was obtained by using the stormwater captured in the infiltration structures and stored in the surrounding soil. Native vegetation (shrubs and trees) will use this water exclusively for growth. These plants will not require watering once their root establishment period has passed, except in extreme droughts. Meanwhile, stormwater discharge from the lot will decrease and the groundwater recharge will increase. Results indicate that the current urban water budget can be made sustainable by replacing watering of landscape by municipal water with harvested stormwater. This results in a relatively lush and shady environment even in desert climates. The success is an artifact of the tendency of urban watersheds to increase the volume of stormwater relative to pre-development conditions.
