How is it changing the world?
Beginning with the US, Shale gas looks set to change the energy
future of the world. The US Energy Information Administration has
identified rich unconventional resources in several countries
worldwide[14].
A report from the Tyndall Centre in Manchester suggests that the
total additional carbon dioxide from shale gas worldwide would
range from 46 - 183 billion tonnes - enough to raise the
atmospheric concentration of CO2 between 3 and 11 parts per
million[8].
USA
Rich plays of shale gas in the United States have transformed
onshore gas production. The growth of shale gas is so rapid that
the US Energy Information Administration predict that in 2035,
almost half of US gas production will be from shale gas, with
approximately 75% from unconventionals overall[15].
EIA Annual Energy Outlook predictions for US gas production.
Scale is in trillions of cubic feet
Legislation has been distinctly pro-shale gas and the Department
of Energy has been broadly supportive of Shale Gas. Mineral rights
legislation in the US mean that it is a favourable place for Oil
and Gas companies. Environmental regulation is largely
state-controlled.
Poland
Poland, estimated as having 5,300 bcm(billion cubic metres) of
shale gas[14],
is very keen to develop its resources, not least to end gas
dependence on Russia. On 21 June 2011, 3 Legs Resources announced
the completion of its horizontal well in Łebień in the Kashubia
region[16].
This will be fracked in the third quarter of 2011. The Polish
Government has granted licences to at least 34 companies as of
March 2011
Unconventionals Licences from the Polish Ministry of the
Environment (Ministerstwo Środowiska)
The response of the Polish Government to the recent interest in
shale gas has been overwhelmingly supportive[17].
France
Identified by the EIA as having the second largest reserves of
shale gas in Europe[14],
France has declined to pursue shale gas. Their relative energy
security through nuclear and renewables has meant the demand for
natural gas in France is less urgent than the UK (citation needed).
Furthermore, campaigning by environmentalists and prominent
politicians, particularly the MEP José Bové, has led to the French
Parliament banning hydraulic fracturing[18].
Protests near Lyon, France, against proposed shale gas
development. Image: ledauphine.com
The Rest of The World
In the rest of the world, Shale Gas is yet to be developed.
Prospecting by Shell in Sweden yielded poor results and was
abandoned[19],
test drilling by Cuadrilla Resources in the Netherlands will begin
in late 2011[20];
other companies have started elsewhere in Europe.
China have expressed an interest in Shale Gas - it is thought to
possess more shale gas resources than the US[14][21].
Canada, too, has rapidly started developing shale gas, however, in
March the province of Quebec halted shale operations to study the
ecological dangers of fracking[22].
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