New research from Penn State and the University of Alberta suggests that patents related to hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — can be used in the industry to limit the availability of information about the fluids expended as part of the natural gas extraction process.
Though a variety of stakeholders have increasingly questioned potential environmental, safety, and health hazards related to fracking, many of the components used during fracking operations cannot be identified because “they are withheld as proprietary or trade secrets,” according to the researchers.
Researcher Dan Cahoy, a Smeal professor of business law, and colleagues Zhen Lei from Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences along with Joel Gehman from the University of Alberta School of Business have found that patents may be controlling or limiting the release of significant information when it comes to certain aspects of fracking.