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Two critical challenges, namely high water resources consumption and growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are encountered across the current shale gas supply chains. This study presents a three-level modeling framework for economic and environmental life-cycle optimization of the shale gas supply chains. Life cycle analysis (LCA) approach and Stackelberg leader-follower game are integrated into the optimization framework to account for a hierarchical structure. This hierarchical framework is capable of not only addressing the sequential decision-making problem raised by decision makers at different levels (e.g., the whole-system decision maker as a leader and the environment-development decision maker as a follower), but also developing multilevel cooperative control of water management and GHG-emission mitigation. An application to the Marcellus Shale is then given to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed three-level model. An improved leader-follower-interactive solution algorithm based on satisfactory degree is presented to tackle the computational challenge of the three-level program. The overall satisfaction solution is generated for satisfying the goals of different decision makers by compromising the trade-offs among energy, water, and air-emission implications. Optimal solutions with respect to well drilling schedule, shale gas production, freshwater supply, wastewater treatment, GHG emissions, and electricity generation would be obtained. These analyses are capable of helping decision makers adjust their tolerances to make informed decisions for the supply chains. Moreover, the decision making is not kept static but improved by repeatedly communicating with both different models and sensitivity analysis. Through the communications, the robustness and objectivity of the model solutions can further be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of shale gas is commonly considered as a low-cost option for meeting ambitious climate policy targets. This article explores global and country-specific effects of increasing global shale gas exploitation on the energy markets, on greenhouse gas emissions, and on mitigation costs. The global techno-economic partial equilibrium model POLES (Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems) is employed to compare policies which limit global warming to 2°C and baseline scenarios when the availability of shale gas is either high or low. According to the simulation results, a high availability of shale gas has rather small effects on the costs of meeting climate targets in the medium and long term. In the long term, a higher availability of shale gas increases baseline emissions of greenhouse gases for most countries and for the world, and leads to higher compliance costs for most, but not all, countries. Allowing for global trading of emission certificates does not alter these general results. In sum, these findings cast doubt on shale gas’s potential as a low-cost option for meeting ambitious global climate targets. POLICY RELEVANCE Many countries with a large shale gas resource base consider the expansion of local shale gas extraction as an option to reduce their GHG emissions. The findings in this article imply that a higher availability of shale gas in these countries might actually increase emissions and mitigation costs for these countries and also for the world. An increase in shale gas extraction may spur a switch from coal to gas electricity generation, thus lowering emissions. At the global level and for many countries, though, this effect is more than offset by a crowding out of renewable and nuclear energy carriers, and by lower energy prices, leading to higher emissions and higher mitigation costs in turn. These findings would warrant a re-evaluation of the climate strategy in most countries relying on the exploitation of shale gas to meet their climate targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the requirement of national energy conservation and environmental protection, attention has been given to building an environment-friendly and resource-saving society. Shale gas oil-based drilling cutting pyrolysis residues (ODPRs) have been used as the main research object to developing new technology which can convert the residues into a harmless and recyclable material. Using the test data of ODPR, we analyze the development prospect in the building material industry and provide a scheme to utilize this particular solid-waste efficiently. Theoretically speaking, the ODPR resource utilization such as admixture of cement, making sintered brick, and non-fired brick, by the exploration and development of Fuling shale gas is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of narrative environmental news on issue and message attitudes, and the extent to which such attitudes might be moderated by individuals' environmental orientations. We conducted an experiment in which we asked participants to read either a narrative or informational newspaper article on the environmental consequences of shale gas drilling. Individuals' environmental orientations were measured a week before the experiment. Results indicated significant interaction effects between news formats and individuals' environmental orientations on transportation, positive cognitive responses, sympathy, and issue attitudes. Those who were more concerned about the environment were more affected by narrative news than those less concerned. These findings suggest that news narratives have stronger effects when they resonate with individuals' predispositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of shale gas resources was made possible by the combination of horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Environmental concerns have been raised relative to shale gas production, especially potential impacts on groundwater. Fluids related to unconventional oil and gas (O&G) operations contain chemical compounds that can impact groundwater quality. Such impacts can occur due to (1) the infiltration of surface contaminant releases, (2) failures of the integrity of O&G wells, and (3) upward fluid migration from a shale/tight reservoir along preferential paths that can be natural (faults or fracture zone) or man-made (O&G wells). Surface releases represent the most probable mechanism leading to groundwater contamination. Improvements in O&G drilling operations under stringent regulations can minimize this risk. Experts identify O&G well integrity as the most challenging issue that may lead to groundwater contamination. Failure of casing and cement can lead to upward fluid flow within or outside O&G wells, especially of methane. Integrity failures leading to fluid migration to shallow fresh water aquifers or to the surface are well understood and can be detected and repaired, but this can be complex and costly. A few regulators now impose groundwater monitoring to detect impacts from integrity failures. Occurrences of communication with existing O&G wells from fracking operations have also led some regulators to impose rules aiming to avoid such potential fluid migration paths. There is an ongoing scientific debate regarding the potential for fluids to migrate upward from exploited shale gas units to aquifers through natural preferential paths. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1188. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1188 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovation has made extraction of natural gas from deep shale formations economically viable. While unconventional shale gas development is seen as an economic benefit, concerns have been raised about the environmental and health risks associated with the extraction process. We combine GIS data on unconventional shale gas development in Pennsylvania and Ohio with household data on bottled water purchases to assess the impact that perceived risks to drinking water from unconventional shale development have had on household well-being using a treatment effects design. In our preferred triple difference models with timevarying treatment effects, we find per household averting expenditure in 2010 ranges from $10.74 in our full sample specification to $15.64 when omitting urban counties more likely to contain public water supplies. Converting the sample-average averting expenditure of $10.74 to an annual expenditure for the entire affected population implies an averting expenditure in Pennsylvania shale counties exceeding $19 million for the year 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst claims about the ethicality of shale gas development via hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking', are commonplace in everyday discourse, little scholarly attention has been afforded explicitly to this aspect of unconventional fossil fuel extraction. The limited research that speaks to ethical considerations largely describes ethical concerns associated with development-extremely few claims in research literature make an ethical case for development. The most common ethical concerns cited in research stem from issues of distributive justice, with procedural justice, the precautionary principle, exposure to involuntary risks, rights-based arguments, and changes in community character and way of life as the next most common. Additional research hints implicitly at ethical dilemmas associated with shale gas development but does not openly identify these issues as having moral implications. Many ethical considerations relate closely to concerns about water quality and the volume/supply of water available for other purposes. The limited scholarship in this area reveals the importance of understanding the ways in which ethics permeate thoughts about shale gas development for designing policy that responds to constituent needs and concerns. Even more limited than research on ethical claims in association with shale gas development is well-reasoned scholarship that analyzes the extent to which ethical claims about development are well justified and philosophically justifiable. A comprehensive and systematic analysis of the range of ethical claims potentially relevant to shale gas development and their usefulness for informing policy on this topic would contribute greatly to informed decision making on this controversial issue-something that science alone cannot achieve. WIREs Water 2016, 3:575-586. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1152 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing for shale gas is a controversial issue in most countries. In these controversies, actors use discursive boundary work to convince various audiences of their position. Discursive boundary work is a communicative strategy that involves the framing of facts in contrast to other kinds of arguments. In this article we develop the Dynamic Discourse Coalition (DDC) approach to study how discourse coalitions deploy discursive boundary work to confirm, integrate, polarize or disintegrate their own and opposing discourse coalitions. The DDC approach enables a deeper understanding of the dynamics of controversies about hydraulic fracturing and similar contested technologies by illuminating the influence of communicative processes on policy formation. Based on an analysis of policy documents, academic reports, newspapers, interviews and websites we compare the dynamics of contesting discourse coalitions in the Netherlands and New York. This analysis explains why policy formed in different ways in the cases, despite the apparent similarity of the discourse coalitions that emerged in the respective controversies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the recent shale gas boom, the U.S. is expected to have very large natural gas resources. In this respect, the key question is would it be better to rely completely on free market resource allocations which would lead to large exports of natural gas or to limit natural gas exports so that more could be used in the U.S.. After accounting for the cost of liquefying the natural gas and shipping it to foreign markets, the current price difference leaves room for considerable profit to producers from exports. In addition, there is a large domestic demand for natural gas from various sectors such as electricity generation, industrial applications, and the transportation sector etc. A hybrid modeling approach has been carried out using our version of the well-known MARket ALlocation (MARKAL)-Macro model to keep bottom-up model richness with macro effects to incorporate price and gross domestic product (GDP) feedbacks. One of the conclusion of this study is that permitting higher natural gas export levels leads to a small reduction in GDP (0.04%-0.17%). Higher exports also increases U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and electricity prices (1.1%-7.2%). We also evaluate the impacts of natural gas exports in the presence of a Clean Energy Standard (CES) for electricity. In this case, the GDP impacts are similar, but the electricity and transport sector impacts are different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospects of UK shale gas development and its role in the energy mix has generated contradictory views. Its inclusion in electricity generation is anticipated to help mitigate the grid carbon emissions. However, there is fear that a shale gas "revolution" might distract policy commitments on the development of low carbon technologies. Others argue that a shale gas "boom" could potentially create a "lock-in-effect" on the gas generation infrastructure, thus, further exacerbating the burden on carbon emissions. The uncertainty over the future role of shale gas is worsened by lack of clarity and conflicting estimates on the potential gas resource and reserves. In the midst of these uncertainties, this paper seeks to examine transition pathways incorporating shale gas and their implications on electricity sector decarbonisation and energy security objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale formations have been recently treated only as source rocks and sealing packages mainly of conventional deposits. At present shales, which have a considerable concentration of highly mature organic matter appearing in complexes of over 30 m thick are used as unconventional sources for natural gas production with the use of advanced drilling technologies. Natural gas production in such rock formations necessitates performing a horizontal section in the borehole and a big number of hydraulic fracturing jobs. The unconventional shale gas deposits have been prospected also in Poland for a couple of years. Exploration works mainly concentrate on a vast area passing from Pomerania through Mazowsze to the Lublin region in Poland. The analysis of the geologic analyses reveals that the most perspective are shales in the Lower Paleozoic at a depth of 2500 m in the eastern part to about 4000 m in the western part of the area. The paper is focused on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of environmental impact of natural gas exploration works from unconventional deposits. Special attention was paid to the hydraulic fracturing jobs in shales, which create particular hazard for water and soil environment. These hazards already appear at the stage of preliminary works, when big quantities of chemicals and water for frac jobs are stored in the rig area, and then, during realization of works, when the spent hydraulic fracturing fluid may penetrate the water-bearing horizons in the caprock. The composition of fracturing fluid used in Gapowo B-1A well are given along with the results of chemical analyses of a few parts of spent fracturing fluid samples pumped out from the borehole. The fluid turned out to be high in salt (high specific electrolyte conductance (SEC) and total dissolved substances (TDS) and a high toxicity for most of the living organisms). For this reason the spent fracturing fluid should not enter the environment without control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this case study, we analyze the discourse, practices and representations of a group of scientists who issued public statements about the French shale gas controversy. The reasons they gave for engaging in this process of communication focused on their social responsibility, their collective ad hoc expertise and the neutrality of their position. We also investigated how these scientists actually produced their communications, despite the tensions between individual and collective positions. We discuss how this experience led them to reflect both individually and collectively on their representations of science in society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]