Fracking has sparked energy revolution, inventor says, Part 1: Calgary innovation continues to transform industry around the globe

Fracking has sparked energy revolution, inventor says, Part 1: Calgary innovation continues to transform industry around the globe by CBC News, April 1, 2013
“Mostly it just creates an efficient process where rock that couldn’t be produced now can be produced,” said Packers Plus president Dan Themig, who invented the process. … Themig’s system uses various-sized balls to open a series of sleeves in an oil well, allowing the area to be fracked more efficiently. … He said the company hopes to apply its technology in Alberta’s oilsands in the future. “What we are seeing is probably the fastest change in the energy industry that has ever happened and it has really just transformed the entire industry,” he said. But the hundreds of chemicals used in fracking are a growing concern for environmentalists, as each shale gas well uses between 55,000 and 200,000 litres of chemical mixture. Last month, federal environment commissioner Scott Vaughan tabled a report concluding the government does not know enough about the chemicals the industry uses in the fracking process and that “environmental protection may not be keeping pace with resource development.” [Emphasis added]