Global shale gas reserves

 

Shale gas is fast emerging as the next big global energy source. Marginal Revolution points to this graphic of global shale gas reserves from an assessment of 48 shale gas basins in 32 countries made by the US Energy Information Agency. The EIA estimates that over 6,600 Tcf of shale gas resources are estimated to be technically recoverable.

To lend some perspective, 1,000 Tcf of natural gas contains the equivalent energy to 166 billion barrels of oil. Note that India does not have anything to cheer from this source too, atleast from this set of data. It is possible that exploration for shale gas is at its nascent stages in Asia and Africa.
The only real issue with shale gas is whether its costs – by way of hydraulic fracking causing pollution of aquifers and methane leakages from shale wells – exceed the benefits arising from lower carbon releases. However, the final verdict may not come anytime soon. Over the next few years, there will surely be significant improvements in technologies aimed at curbing pollution.

Global shale gas reserves
gulzar.natarajan@gmail.com (gulzar)
Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:07:00 GMT

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