This is one of the most interesting articles I have ever read on the process of fracking. It's about the upcoming shortages of the guar-bean, a key ingredient in almost all fracking operations. It's mainly grown in remote India and Pakistan and US companies are looking at it for here.  (side note: would they still need guar-beans if propane used in the fracking?)

Also, a great PR line for us: guar-beans are also used in ice cream for the same reason they are used in fracking - to create the slip needed in both products. So, next time you eat ice cream, think of fracking!

-----

http://world.time.com/2012/07/17/why-the-u-s-fracking-industry-worr...

----

And so the exploration companies are encouraging more production in India where 10.5 million acres of guar are set to be planted this year, two million more than 2011, Trostle says.  Energy companies have invested in Texas research efforts aimed at developing new seed varieties for U.S. production. There is at least one guar production plant in Texas, Trostle says, and guar is being grown by a few farmers in West Texas where it is suited to the “marginal” soils and dry climate. Trostle expects guar gum farming to grow in similar areas in other states, including Arizona, if the price point remains high.

Despite the debate over fracking in the U.S. and Europe and the calls for a  shutdown, it is unlikely that will stop the new technology from being utilized in the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Seisun says. China, for example, is getting a front row look at how fracking works. In November of 2010, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)  paid $1 billion for a 33% stake in Chesapeake Energy’s leases in the Eagle Ford Shale project in South Texas. Estimates of China’s shale gas reserves range from 26 trillion to 36.1 trillion cubic meters of shale gas, about 50% higher than those estimated in the U.S., according to the Asia Times. The debate over fracking aside, Trostle says it is “gratifying” to see India’s poor subsistence farmers find gold in those gummy beans.