Accessing more unconventional fossil fuels (like oil sands, shale oil and gas from fracking, ultra‑deep offshore, Arctic reserves, and coalbed methane) raises several major concerns across environment, climate, health, and economics.

What “unconventional” means

Unconventional fossil fuels are oil and gas resources trapped in harder‑to‑reach geologic formations, often requiring more complex, energy‑intensive technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, oil sands mining, or ultra‑deep drilling. They are pursued as easier conventional fields decline and energy demand stays high.

Environmental and health concerns

  • Water contamination risks
    • Fracking and other unconventional methods can introduce chemicals, salts, heavy metals, and methane into surface and groundwater through spills, leaks, poor well casings, or improper wastewater disposal.
* Wastewater from these operations often contains toxic and sometimes radioactive materials that are difficult to treat and safely dispose of.
  • High water use
    • Hydraulic fracturing and some oil sands processes require very large volumes of water, which can stress local water supplies in dry or farming regions.
  • Air pollution and local health impacts
    • Unconventional development can increase emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, particulate matter, and ozone‑forming pollutants, contributing to smog, respiratory issues, neurological problems, and elevated cancer risks for nearby communities.
* Flaring and venting of gas release additional pollutants and sometimes radioactive particles that degrade local air quality.
  • Landscape and ecosystem damage
    • Oil sands mining strips large areas of land, destroys habitats, and leaves behind tailings ponds containing toxic waste.
* Dense networks of well pads, roads, and pipelines fragment ecosystems, disturb wildlife, and increase noise and light pollution.
  • Induced seismicity (human‑caused earthquakes)
    • Deep injection of wastewater from unconventional oil and gas operations has been linked to increased seismic activity in some regions.

Climate and energy‑system concerns

  • Higher lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions
    • Many unconventional fuels, especially heavy oils and oil sands, have greater total emissions over their full lifecycle because extraction and processing are more energy‑intensive.
* Fugitive methane leaks from shale gas and tight oil production can significantly increase climate warming, since methane is a potent greenhouse gas.
  • Lock‑in to carbon‑intensive infrastructure
    • Major investments in unconventional oil and gas fields, pipelines, and refineries can “lock in” fossil fuel use for decades, making it harder to meet climate targets.
* Some refineries have been configured specifically for heavy, high‑carbon crude, biasing the system toward continued use of more polluting feedstocks.
  • Slowing the transition to renewables
    • Abundant unconventional gas can undercut the economic urgency to invest in low‑carbon renewable energy, even if it is somewhat cleaner than coal in the short run.

Social, economic, and governance concerns

  • Community impacts and boom‑bust cycles
    • Rapid development can strain housing, roads, health services, and local governance in rural areas, while creating boom‑bust economic cycles when prices fall or wells decline.
* Noise, traffic, and industrialization of rural landscapes can reduce quality of life and property values near development sites.
  • Public health equity
    • Low‑income and marginalized communities are often disproportionately exposed to the pollution and safety risks from unconventional extraction and related infrastructure.
  • Regulatory and knowledge gaps
    • Technologies like fracking and ultra‑deep drilling evolved quickly, while regulations and monitoring often lag, leaving gaps in oversight and enforcement.
* Many contaminant pathways and long‑term health effects remain incompletely understood, creating scientific uncertainty and public distrust.
  • Safety and accident risks
    • Complex operations in harsh environments (like deepwater or Arctic fields) increase the risk and potential severity of spills, blowouts, and industrial accidents.

Big picture: why these concerns matter

Because unconventional fossil fuels are harder to extract, they generally mean more energy, water, land, and infrastructure per unit of fuel, with higher environmental and social risks compared to many conventional sources. Public health organizations and sustainability experts emphasize that these risks strengthen the case for accelerating a transition away from fossil fuels toward cleaner, renewable energy systems.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.