Question of the consequences of
shale gas production
Hi guys! My name is Tamara (Ta-me-ra) Solaja and I will be co-chairing the
environmental committee along with my friend Ales. I’m 17 years old and this will be
my third PRAMUN conference. Don’t hesitate to contact me (tamisolaja@gmail.com)
or Ales (AlesJan@seznam.cz) if you have questions concerning the conference. To
make things easier, each of us has chosen the subject we would like to chair. I’ll be
chairing you of the question of the consequences of shale gas production.
I.
Background Information
Shale gas, or the natural gas formed from being trapped within shale formations, is becoming an increasingly important source of natural gas. The procedure of extracting shale gas is called fracking (Hydraulic fracturing), or horizontal
drilling. Although it was first extracted in the year 1821 in New York, work on industrial-scale shale gas production did not begin until the 1970s. At that time
Presidents Ford and Carter both prioritized gas exploration in the face of the
1970s energy crises. The process of fracking was at the time very expensive. It was
only after we made certain technological breakthroughs at the end of the 21. Century that shale gas became a primary source of increased natural gas production.
Thanks to massive hydraulic fracking, horizontal wells, and advanced earth imaging, shale gas provided over 20 % of U.S. natural gas production in 2010. However, a recent study conducted by European Commission’s Directorate-General for
Energy, showed that: “extracting shale gas generally imposes a larger environmental footprint than conventional gas development. Risks of surface and
ground water contamination, water resource depletion, air and noise emissions,
land take, disturbance to biodiversity and impacts related to traffic are deemed
to be high in the case of cumulative projects”.
II.
Previous UN involvement
Kandeh Yumkella, co-head of he U.N.'s Sustainable Energy for All Initiative
and head of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization recently stated
:“Natural gas, including non-traditional shale gas, should play a major role in cutting greenhouse gases, protecting forests and improving the health and living
standards of the world’s poor”.
Due to the novelty of this phenomenon, no UN resolutions have yet been crafted in regard to this subject.
III.
Block Positions
Due to the fact that the extraction of shale gas is a rather recent phenomenon, the reactions and policies vary wildly from country to country.
Therefore no block positions can be established, for further information about
shale gas policies by country feel free to consult :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas_by_country
IV. Questions
to consider
Should the UN encourage the extracting of Shale gas?
Does shale gas do more harm than good?
Can we defining “reasonable” shale gas development?
Useful links:
http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/topics/washington-update/shale-gasrevolution
http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/ONG/ShaleGas/Overview.asp?pa
ge=5
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm?id=1410&dt_code=NWS&obj_id=15260&
ori=RSS