Critical Consumer of Science

1. My ranking scheme, with sources listed below from most reliable to least reliable, is based off of,
firstly, if a source is primary, secondary or tertiary (the degree of reliability correlating with this
order), secondly whether or not this source is from a renowned institution, preferably educational
or governmental, and thirdly if it is backed by an organization or viewpoint that has cause to be
biased (for example a piece written by a corporation is likely to be biased) for it to receive a high
ranking regarding accuracy. The list is as follows:
"USGS FAQs - Hydraulic Fracturing ("Fracking") - How Much Water Does the Typical Hydraulically
Fractured Well Require?" USGS FAQs - Hydraulic Fracturing ("Fracking") - How Much Water Does the
Typical Hydraulically Fractured
Well Require? N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<https://www2.usgs.gov/faq/categories/10132/3824>.
Bullis, Kevin. "One Way to Solve Fracking's Dirty Problem." MIT Technology

Review. N.p., 28 Mar. 2016.

Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<https://www.technologyreview.com/s/519416/one-way-to-solve-frackings-dirty-problem/>.

"What Is Forward Osmosis?" International Forward Osmosis Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
<http://forwardosmosis.biz/education/what-is-forward-osmosis/>.
Oasys1.
Digital image. CNBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
<http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/17/a-start-ups-that-solved-frackings-dirty-problem.html>.
Zaleski, Andrew. "A Start-up Thats Solved Frackings Dirty Problem."
Nightly Business Report. N.p., 17 Feb.
2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<http://nbr.com/2015/02/17/a-start-up-thats-solved-frackings-dirty-problem/>.

"Fracking and Water Pollution." Fracking and Water

Pollution - SourceWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec.

2016. <http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fracking_and_water_pollution>.
Dews, Fred. "The Economic Benefits

of Fracking." Brookings. N.p., 29 July 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

<https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2015/03/23/the-economic-benefits-of-fracking/>.
Akers, Sherri. "Water Wise Expo at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market on March 29th." Water Wise Expo at
the Mar Vista
Farmers' Market on March 29th. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
<http://waterwiseexpo.blogspot.com/>.

2. "USGS FAQs - Hydraulic Fracturing ("Fracking") - How Much Water Does the Typical Hydraulically
Fractured Well Require?" USGS FAQs - Hydraulic Fracturing ("Fracking") - How Much Water Does the
Typical Hydraulically Fractured Well Require? N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<https://www2.usgs.gov/faq/categories/10132/3824>.
This source is secondary as it comes from a USGS report listing various fracking locations and their well
capacity.
Bullis, Kevin. "One Way to Solve Fracking's Dirty Problem." MIT Technology Review. N.p., 28 Mar. 2016.
Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<https://www.technologyreview.com/s/519416/one-way-to-solve-frackings-dirty-problem/>.
This source is secondary as it comes from a technology review magazine for an educational institution, based
on the institutions research.

"What Is Forward

Osmosis?" International Forward Osmosis Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
<http://forwardosmosis.biz/education/what-is-forward-osmosis/>.
This source is primary as it describes the technology that I have been researching in the very words of the
association that has helped in furthering it in this time period.
Oasys1. Digital image. CNBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
<http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/17/a-start-ups-that-solved-frackings-dirty-problem.html>.
This source is secondary as it was published on the CNBC website from a primary source, which would be the
Oasys website, as this website was created by those who created this filtration system unto itself.
Zaleski, Andrew. "A Start-up Thats Solved Frackings Dirty Problem." Nightly Business Report. N.p., 17 Feb.
2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
<http://nbr.com/2015/02/17/a-start-up-thats-solved-frackings-dirty-problem/>.
This source is secondary as it was published on a business report, taking information from scientific and
corporate resources.

"Fracking

and Water Pollution." Fracking and Water Pollution - SourceWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec.
2016. <http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fracking_and_water_pollution>.
This source is tertiary as it is a report on the state of fracking based heavily on media representations of
the topic.
Dews, Fred. "The Economic Benefits of Fracking." Brookings. N.p., 29 July 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
<https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2015/03/23/the-economic-benefits-of-fracking/>.
This source is secondary as it is an article published in a journal based on primary information.

Akers, Sherri. "Water Wise Expo at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market on March 29th." Water Wise Expo at
the Mar Vista Farmers' Market on March 29th. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
<http://waterwiseexpo.blogspot.com/>.
This source is tertiary as it is a blog which inevitably has taken information from a variety of different
secondary sources and includes personal opinions.

3. This paper is titled Waterless Fracking - a New Way to Frack Using Lpg Gel, and is relevant to my
topic in that it presents a solution to the problem of water pollution in fracking. The authors of this paper
are Abdul Wahab Khuwaja , Abdul Basit, and Inamullah Haneef, it was published in AAPG (American
Association of Petroleum Geologists), Datapages Inc. in November 2014.
The key points from the abstract are those centering around substituting waters role in fracking
with a chemical gel solution. This still developing technology eliminates the need for water and many
hazardous chemicals in fracking.
I think the role of the abstract in a scientific publication is to introduce what the following paper
will talk about and tus brief the reader on what points will be elaborated upon in the text. In a scientific
journal abstract, I expect to find information, as stated above, on what main topics the paper will cover
and thus what the purpose of the following detailed analysis is.

Reflection

4. A. The relationship between combusting fossil fuels, the greenhouse effect, and climate is that when
humans utilize fossil fuels, the combustion of these fuels releases what are called greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere, such as methane and carbon dioxide. These gases, when present in the atmosphere, trap
heat from primarily solar energy within earths atmosphere instead of letting it escape into space, creating
what is called the greenhouse effect, and thus aiding climate change by keeping our atmosphere
artificially warm. Greenhouse gases can decrease in the atmosphere if no more of these gases are added,
however at the rate of human energy consumption using fossil fuels this isnt likely in the near future.
This process of greenhouse gas pollution is currently present in the burning of gasoline to fuel cars which
prompts the release of carbon dioxide or the release of methane in the production of fossil fuels, as well as
the combustion of fossil fuels which result in the release of other gases such as nitrous oxide.
B. The role of scientists and engineers in society is to better the quality of the human condition while
expanding our horizons of curiosity, such as in exploring space or engineering new technologies which
test the boundaries of what human ingenuity is capable of. The ways in which scientists and engineers

have made life as we know it better is that they have provided humanity with implementable technologies
permitting us to possess more effective medicines, more fuel efficient cars, and more environmentally
friendly forms of energy production. Ultimately, these developments provide humanity with more
enjoyable lives and better chances of individual and group survival, concepts which make up the base of
what our species strives to achieve, and in this sense the scientists and engineers of our society in my
opinion are the best equipped to enable this, as in accordance with the above examples. Implementing
technologies which allow humans longer and healthier lives have fallen to these listed professions, which
incorporate a knowledge of the world around us to make it a better place, in terms of human subjective
value.
C. In my opinion, the role of innovation in developing new cleaner energy production/consumption in
reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the environment is to
engineer new technologies to better process fuels which release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases either when produced or consumed or to find new technologies in the production/consumption of
energy that eliminate greenhouse gases entirely. In bettering the ability of processing technologies and
consumption technologies, options mostly center around finding technologies which do not release
greenhouse gases at all, or that less fuel is burned per exertion of energy and less greenhouse gases are
thusly released, greenhouse gas emissions can be decreased, all on the basis of technologies that aid these
functions. Examples of this in consumption include cars which utilize fuel in terms of miles per gallon of
fuel more efficiently and homes which use natural gas instead of energy from coal-fired power plants, as
natural gas releases less greenhouse gases when combusted than coal, or even use solar as their source of
energy, something which would eliminate greenhouse gases altogether. Examples of this in production
include wind farms which eliminate the need for greenhouse gas use and the exploration of new forms of
fuel such as ethanol which release less greenhouse gases when combusted.