Seems like, to me at least, they could generate power with the gases they ‘flare off’ at the sites where the rigs are so that the stuff isn’t wasted.....................
To run the hydraulic fracturing rig, the well isn’t in production yet. Nor is enough gas typically produced afterwards and the gas has a lot of impurities at that point.
The flaring was a bigger issue in the Bakken, where there wasn’t sufficient infrastructure to gather the natural gas. This is less of an issue in the Permian, where oil and gas in the general area has been produced for decades. New wells still have to be tied in, but there is much less for the total build out.
In Texas, where is plant is being built, the Commission’s Statewide Rule 32 allows an operator to flare gas while drilling a well and for up to 10 days after a well’s completion for operators to conduct well potential testing. The majority of flaring permit requests received by the Commission are for flaring cashinghead gas from oil wells. Permits to flare from gas wells are not typically issued as natural gas is the main product of a gas well.
http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/about-us/resource-center/faqs/oil-gas-faqs/faq-flaring-regulation/