*[Enwl-eng] Shale gas: bright and darker sides of the energy alternative
ENWL.Bellona
*Shale gas: bright and darker sides of the energy alternative*
American energy companies reports came out sensational – for the first time
in these last years the US extracted more shale gas than Russia, the former
leader in “blue gold” mining. There have been talks that finally a solution
for the greatest issue of ever growing energy demand is there at hand.
Experts claim that increasing the share of shale gas helps reduce carbon
emissions and thus fight climate change. Although NGOs reckon that this
energy alternative is hardly to become an environmental panacea.
More news on climate and energy on our website www.rusecounion.ru
A new method of obtaining gas from shale was discovered a while ago.
American energy suppliers claim to have found an effective way of applying
horizontal drilling along with hydraulic impact by pumping in water, sand
and certain chemicals. This helps collect the gas that envelopes layers of
shale and avoid too much of costly drilling. A similar technology is used
to extract coal bed methane.
In the US gas extraction increased by 3.7% last year thanks to the know-how
and now topped with 624 billion cubic meters. At the same time in Russia
shale gas extraction is decreasing, having gone down by 12.4% and now
constitutes a total of 582.3 billion cubic meters. The scoop of American
energy reports is based on the fact that the country, unlike Norway and
Qatar where only traditional gas extraction has been growing, managed to
take this leap based only on shale gas which is still seen as an
alternative source.
The share of shale gas is now 40% of total gas extraction in the US, and by
2020 it is supposed to reach 60%. According to an IEA study, the extraction
of non-traditional gas in Europe will reach 15 billion cubic meters per
year by 2030. According to some of the most optimistic prognoses, gas
extraction in Europe will not exceed 40 billion cubic meters by 2030. This
is considered an underestimation by many.
As the result of the so-called shale fever the US stopped buying liquefied
gas from Qatar, and the import share in this sector of the US economy fell
by 16%. Arab gas re-focused from the US to Europe thus disrupting
international gas prices and Gazprom interests in this sphere. Now due to
the overflow on the liquefied gas market and since European gas consumption
has decreased by 44 billion cubic meters, Gazprom was forced to reduce its
export by 11.4%. This situation puts a big question mark on the future of
two huge pipelines (Nordstream and Southstream) since the demand for shale
becomes a real threat to Russia’s economy.
According to the view of an independent expert group, if Russian gas
monopoly keeps investing in these projects, then, considering
transportation costs, the end price may come out totally uncompetitive.
From the environmental point of view, this shale revolution may be of an
advantage as it provides a cleaner energy than the coal-based one, which
means less carbon emissions. One more advantage of shale gas is its
proximity to end markets. At the same time shale gas has many drawbacks
that may mar its perspectives. Many are concerned that the chemicals used
for gas extraction are getting into ground waters which may cause severe
environmental and health issues. Many skeptics remind us of our failed
hopes of new wonderful energy sources. Some say that shale gas is likely to
repeat the fate of coal bed methane or biofuel both of which are on a
downward trend. Others say that the shale gas rush is a mere result of a
large-scale advertisement campaign paid by energy companies extracting
shale gas and waiting for more investments. There are suspicions that the
actual cost of shale gas extraction is way higher than what is claimed by
the companies. Some experts say that the actual costs of shale gas
extraction are from 212 to about 283 thousand US dollars for 1000 cubic
meters. As *The Financial Times* put it, “*shale gas is not a solution to
all our problems, connected with the energy safety of the West, and is far
from being a solution to climate change. But there so many bad news in this
world today and shale gas is just one of a few really good ones…”*
* *
About a year ago the State Duma Energy Committee recommended that our
Government conduct an assessment of Russia’s shale gas potential and to
study possibilities and perspectives of implementing this technology in our
country. The results have not been announced yet. But it is obvious that
the world energy market is something very unstable and tends to fall for
novelties. This said, Russia’s stance on oil and gas is a bit
short-sighted. Shale oil extraction may be viewed as a cleaner energy
source for the time being, but this is not the solution. Energy supplies
have to be diversified, and there should be a focus on local renewable
energy and on stepping away from all fossils – only that may help us reduce
our environmental impact in the long run and fight climate change.
--
RSEU Climate Secretariat
www.rusecounion.ru
Address: Voznesenskij 36-4, St.Petersburg, 190068, Russia
Tel: +7 812 3127944
Tel.mob: +7 921 9117986, +7 9217444255
e-mail:rseu.c...@gmail.com
From: "Climate Secretariat RSEU" <rseu.c...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 7:28 PM
Subject: Shale gas: bright and darker sides of the energy alternative
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