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77-457: After founding The Woodlands in 1974, billionaire philanthropist George P. Mitchell began discussions with local universities including Texas A&M University , Rice University , and the University of Houston in order to establish a center in basic, applied, and policy research. A feasibility study was conducted by Arthur D. Little, Inc. , and it was concluded that The Woodlands would be

154-522: A 2010 letter to President Obama, Martin Apple of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents cautioned against a national policy of developing shale gas without a more certain scientific basis for the policy. This umbrella organization that represents 1.4 million scientists noted that shale gas development "may have greater GHG emissions and environmental costs than previously appreciated." In late 2010,

231-432: A degree in petroleum engineering with an emphasis in geology from Texas A&M University . He graduated as the valedictorian in his class and was also the captain of the men's tennis team. He started an independent oil and gas company, Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., which grew into a Fortune 500 company. He participated in the development of about 10,000 wells, including more than 1000 wildcat wells . In

308-546: A health concern. In response, water treatment systems that can reduce concentrations of those hazardous substances to acceptable levels at the tap were installed at affected homes. Based on the outcome of sampling after the treatment systems were installed, the EPA concluded that additional action by the Agency was not required. A Duke University study of Blacklick Creek (Pennsylvania) , carried out over two years, took samples from

385-457: A methane leakage rate of about 1.4%, down from 2.3% from the EPA's previous Inventory. A 2014 study from Manchester University presented the "First full life cycle assessment of shale gas used for electricity generation." By full life cycle assessment, the authors explained that they mean the evaluation of nine environmental factors beyond the commonly performed evaluation of global warming potential. The authors concluded that, in line with most of

462-412: A number of common properties. They are rich in organic material (0.5% to 25%), and are usually mature petroleum source rocks in the thermogenic gas window, where high heat and pressure have converted petroleum to natural gas. They are sufficiently brittle and rigid enough to maintain open fractures. Some of the gas produced is held in natural fractures, some in pore spaces, and some is adsorbed onto

539-565: A resource in Fredonia, New York , in 1821, in shallow, low-pressure fractures. Horizontal drilling began in the 1930s, and in 1947 a well was first fracked in the U.S. Federal price controls on natural gas led to shortages in the 1970s. Faced with declining natural gas production, the federal government invested in many supply alternatives, including the Eastern Gas Shales Project, which lasted from 1976 to 1992, and

616-691: A small number of sub-standard operations, and encourages the use of industry best practices to prevent such events from recurring. In a report dated 25 July 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had completed its testing of private drinking water wells in Dimock, Pennsylvania. Data previously supplied to the agency by residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Cabot Oil and Gas Exploration had indicated levels of arsenic, barium or manganese in well water at five homes at levels that could present

693-679: A suitable site for such a facility. Mr. Mitchell then founded the research center in 1982, then named the Houston Area Research Center. HARC's first research program, a laser study of materials, was sponsored by the Strategic Defense Initiative program in 1983. The following year in 1984, the University of Texas joined the HARC Consortium which already included the original universities that Mr. Mitchell had sought out. In 1985, an act of

770-560: Is "a model of linking entrepreneurial success to the sustainability movement". The Mitchells also underwrote the National Academies' Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability, the 1999 report that defined the role of science and technology in moving toward sustainability. As a follow-up to Our Common Journey, Mitchell donated $ 20 million to create the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science at

847-497: Is 105-fold greater than carbon dioxide when viewed over a 20-year period and 33-fold greater when viewed over a 100-year period, compared mass-to-mass. Several studies which have estimated lifecycle methane leakage from shale gas development and production have found a wide range of leakage rates, from less than 1% of total production to nearly 8%. A 2011 study published in Climatic Change Letters claimed that

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924-484: Is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s, a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply . Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since

1001-585: Is expected to more than triple by 2020. Because of the technological progress in industry fracking, George Mitchell is now known as the "pioneer of shale." Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. was later acquired by Devon Energy . Mitchell was the developer of The Woodlands , an unincorporated yet governmentally structured township in Montgomery County , Texas , which he developed from timberland located 32 miles north of downtown Houston . He brought on landscape architect Ian McHarg to consult on

1078-412: Is more complicated and the oil and gas more expensive to extract, with a well likely to cost as much as three-and-a-half times more than one in the United States. Europe would be the fastest growing region, accounting for the highest CAGR of 59.5%, in terms of volume owing to availability of shale gas resource estimates in more than 14 European countries. The extraction and use of shale gas can affect

1155-582: Is multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, objective and non-partisan. HARC also serves as Research Management Organization to the Texas Environmental Research Consortium to advise policy decisions regarding air and climate. The mission of the Clean Energy Program is to accelerate development and adoption of clean energy technologies, services, and policies that enhance regional sustainability. The work of

1232-573: Is one of a number of unconventional sources of natural gas; others include coalbed methane , tight sandstones , and methane hydrates . Shale gas areas are often known as resource plays (as opposed to exploration plays ). The geological risk of not finding gas is low in resource plays, but the potential profits per successful well are usually also lower. Shale has low matrix permeability, and so gas production in commercial quantities requires fractures to provide permeability. Shale gas has been produced for years from shales with natural fractures;

1309-832: Is one of the most dangerous professions in the United States, resulting in between 20 and 40 deaths annually, compared to between 10 and 20 for oil and gas extraction. Worker accident risk is also far higher with coal than gas. In the United States, the oil and gas extraction industry is associated with one to two injuries per 100 workers each year. Coal mining, on the other hand, contributes to four injuries per 100 workers each year. Coal mines collapse, and can take down roads, water and gas lines, buildings and many lives with them. Average damages from coal pollutants are two orders of magnitude larger than damages from natural gas. SO 2 , NO x , and particulate matter from coal plants create annual damages of $ 156 million per plant compared to $ 1.5 million per gas plant. Coal-fired power plants in

1386-712: The Asahi Shimbun reported that United States Geological Survey scientists have been investigating the recent increase in the number of magnitude 3 and greater earthquake in the midcontinent of the United States . Beginning in 2001, the average number of earthquakes occurring per year of magnitude 3 or greater increased significantly, culminating in a six-fold increase in 2011 over 20th century levels. A researcher in Center for Earthquake Research and Information of University of Memphis assumes water pushed back into

1463-487: The European Parliament agreed that environmental impact assessments will not be mandatory for shale gas exploration activities and shale gas extraction activities will be subject to the same terms as other gas extraction projects. Barack Obama's administration had sometimes promoted shale gas, in part because of its belief that it releases fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than other fossil fuels. In

1540-539: The Giving Pledge sponsored by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, making public his and Cynthia's long-held private intent that the majority of their wealth would be donated to charitable causes. According to the National Academies of Science , "In the 1970s [Mitchell] helped sponsor the work of Dennis Meadows , whose Club of Rome study The Limits to Growth was a global wake-up call on

1617-513: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that "The environmental impacts of shale development are challenging but manageable." The study addressed groundwater contamination, noting "There has been concern that these fractures can also penetrate shallow freshwater zones and contaminate them with fracturing fluid, but there is no evidence that this is occurring". This study blames known instances of methane contamination on

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1694-596: The Natural Resources Defense Council , which claimed that the Howarth et al. paper's use of a 20-year time horizon for global warming potential of methane is "too short a period to be appropriate for policy analysis." In January 2012, Howarth's colleagues at Cornell University, Lawrence Cathles et al., responded with their own peer-reviewed assessment, noting that the Howarth paper was "seriously flawed" because it "significantly overestimate[s]

1771-481: The fault tends to cause earthquake by slippage of fault. Over 109 small earthquakes ( M w 0.4–3.9) were detected during January 2011 to February 2012 in the Youngstown, Ohio area, where there were no known earthquakes in the past. These shocks were close to a deep fluid injection well. The 14 month seismicity included six felt earthquakes and culminated with a M w 3.9 shock on 31 December 2011. Among

1848-479: The public health benefits from shale gas, by displacing harmful air pollution from coal, far outweigh its environmental costs. In a 2013 report for the Centre for Policy Studies , Muller wrote that air pollution, mostly from coal burning, kills over three million people each year, primarily in the developing world. The report states that "Environmentalists who oppose the development of shale gas and fracking are making

1925-500: The 109 shocks, 12 events greater than M w 1.8 were detected by regional network and accurately relocated, whereas 97 small earthquakes (0.4< M w <1.8) were detected by the waveform correlation detector. Accurately located earthquakes were along a subsurface fault trending ENE-WSW—consistent with the focal mechanism of the main shock and occurred at depths 3.5–4.0 km in the Precambrian basement. On 19 June 2012,

2002-599: The 1980s and 1990s, the company experimented with application of different techniques of hydraulic fracturing of the Barnett Shale of Texas, eventually finding the right technique to economically extract the natural gas in the formation. The approach was widely adopted by the gas industry and spawned a new gas boom in North America. The Potential Gas Committee estimates that U.S. recoverable reserves will last 118 years at current production levels. but production

2079-504: The 2013 estimates. The total recoverable shale gas in the United States, which was estimated at 862 trillion cubic feet in 2011, was revised downward to 665 trillion cubic feet in 2013. Recoverable shale gas in Canada, which was estimated to be 388 TCF in 2011, was revised upward to 573 TCF in 2013. For the United States, EIA estimated (2013) a total "wet natural gas" resource of 2,431 tcf, including both shale and conventional gas. Shale gas

2156-515: The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, have distributed or pledged more than $ 900 million in grants to causes, programs, and institutions. The vast majority of this amount is related to science, environmental sustainability , and sustainability science-related fields, including the foundation's current grant-making programs which focus on sustainability science, clean energy, water, and natural gas sustainability. On December 7, 2010, he joined

2233-500: The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, which supports programs for the efficient and wise use of Earth's resources. Enabled by Mitchell's donation of $ 35 million, the Texas A&;M University Physics department relocated to two new buildings in late 2009: The George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Fundamental Physics and Astronomy Building and the George P. Mitchell Physics Building. In 2012, he committed an additional $ 20 million to

2310-538: The EPA issued a draft finding which stated that groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming may be the result of fracking in the area. The EPA stated that the finding was specific to the Pavillion area, where the fracking techniques differ from those used in other parts of the U.S. Doug Hock, a spokesman for the company which owns the Pavillion gas field, said that it is unclear whether the contamination came from

2387-593: The Eastern Gas Shales Project had increased gas production in the Appalachian and Michigan basins, shale gas was still widely seen as marginal to uneconomic without tax credits, and shale gas provided only 1.6% of US gas production in 2000, when the federal tax credits expired. George P. Mitchell is regarded as the father of the shale gas industry, since he made it commercially viable in the Barnett Shale by getting costs down to $ 4 per 1 million British thermal units (1,100 megajoules). Mitchell Energy achieved

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2464-853: The Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy. This donation was the latest in a series supporting science and the physics department in particular. With previous gifts supporting academic chairs, professorships and the Giant Magellan Telescope project, the Mitchells are Texas A&M's most generous modern benefactors, with donations totaling nearly $ 100 million; by 2011, his total contributions to universities and research organizations had reached $ 159 million. Mitchell and his wife were also major supporters of Texas A&M's marine studies-oriented branch campus Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG), donating

2541-634: The National Academy of Sciences committed to advancing science and technology in support of sustainable development. Mitchell also founded the Houston Advanced Research Center that explores strategies for sustainable development at the regional level. He donated $ 25 million to the Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science to support HARC's work in sustainability science. Mitchell donated part of his wealth to

2618-519: The Section 29 tax credit for unconventional gas from 1980–2000. Microseismic imaging, a crucial input to both hydraulic fracturing in shale and offshore oil drilling , originated from coalbeds research at Sandia National Laboratories . The DOE program also applied two technologies that had been developed previously by industry, massive hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, to shale gas formations, which led to microseismic imaging . Although

2695-739: The Texas Legislature created HARC's Geotechnology Research Institute (GTRI), to improve the technology used in oil and gas exploration. That same year the Center for Global Studies was merged into HARC as an operating division. The Center organized the Woodlands Conferences, managed the Mitchell Prize competition, and developed field work in Houston, the Rio Grande and Northeast Brazil. In 1986, NEC chose HARC for

2772-419: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a report which concluded that shale gas emits larger amounts of methane , a potent greenhouse gas , than does conventional gas, but still far less than coal. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, although it stays in the atmosphere for only one tenth as long a period as carbon dioxide. Recent evidence suggests that methane has a global warming potential (GWP) that

2849-513: The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory with a number of universities (2012). Some 2011 studies pointed to high rates of decline of some shale gas wells as an indication that shale gas production may ultimately be much lower than is currently projected. But shale-gas discoveries are also opening up substantial new resources of tight oil , also known as "shale oil". Shale gas was first extracted as

2926-707: The US Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Water Act applies to surface stream discharges from shale gas wells: Hydraulic fracturing routinely produces microseismic events much too small to be detected except by sensitive instruments. These microseismic events are often used to map the horizontal and vertical extent of the fracturing. However, as of late 2012, there have been three known instances worldwide of hydraulic fracturing, through induced seismicity , triggering quakes large enough to be felt by people. On 26 April 2012,

3003-886: The US and Canada have significant shale gas production. While China has ambitious plans to dramatically increase its shale gas production, these efforts have been checked by inadequate access to technology, water, and land. The table below is based on data collected by the Energy Information Administration agency of the United States Department of Energy . Numbers for the estimated amount of "technically recoverable" shale gas resources are provided alongside numbers for proven natural gas reserves . The US EIA had made an earlier estimate of total recoverable shale gas in various countries in 2011, which for some countries differed significantly from

3080-567: The United Kingdom in comparison with coal, conventional and liquefied gas, nuclear, wind and solar (PV). Dr James Verdon has published a critique of the data produced, and the variables that may affect the results. Chemicals are added to the water to facilitate the underground fracturing process that releases natural gas. Fracturing fluid is primarily water and approximately 0.5% chemical additives (friction reducer, agents countering rust , agents killing microorganism). Since (depending on

3157-789: The United States Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources held a hearing entitled, "Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies." Dr. Murray Hitzman, the Charles F. Fogarty Professor of Economic Geology in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO testified that "About 35,000 hydraulically fractured shale gas wells exist in

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3234-540: The United States due to perceived deficiencies in self-regulation. What is happening is the direct result of a lack of any regulation. If the Clean Water Act was applied in 2005 when the shale gas boom started this would have been prevented. In the UK, if shale gas is going to develop, it should not follow the American example and should impose environmental regulation to prevent this kind of radioactive buildup. According to

3311-832: The United States emit 17–40 times more SO x emissions per MWh than natural gas, and 1–17 times as much NOx per MWh. Lifecycle CO 2 emissions from coal plants are 1.8-2.3 times greater (per KWh) than natural gas emissions. The air quality advantages of natural gas over coal have been borne out in Pennsylvania, according to studies by the RAND Corporation and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection . The shale boom in Pennsylvania has led to dramatically lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, fine particulates, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Physicist Richard A. Muller has said that

3388-718: The United States. Only one case of felt seismicity in the United States has been described in which hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development is suspected, but not confirmed. Globally only one case of felt induced seismicity at Blackpool, England has been confirmed as being caused by hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development." A comprehensive review of the public health effects of energy fuel cycles in Europe finds that coal causes 6 to 98 deaths per TWh (average 25 deaths per TWh), compared to natural gas’ 1 to 11 deaths per TWh (average 3 deaths per TWh). These numbers include both accidental deaths and pollution-related deaths. Coal mining

3465-597: The annual FERC -approved research budget of the Gas Research Institute, where the federal government began extensive research funding in 1982, disseminating the results to industry. The federal government also provided tax credits and rules benefiting the industry in the 1980 Energy Act . The Department of Energy later partnered with private gas companies to complete the first successful air-drilled multi-fracture horizontal well in shale in 1986. The federal government further incentivized drilling in shale via

3542-618: The contrast between the long residence time of CO 2 and the short residence time of methane in the atmosphere." The author of that response, Lawrence Cathles, wrote that "shale gas has a GHG footprint that is half and perhaps a third that of coal," based upon "more reasonable leakage rates and bases of comparison." In April 2013 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered its estimate of how much methane leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery of natural gas by 20 percent. The EPA report on greenhouse emissions credited tighter pollution controls instituted by

3619-551: The creek upstream and down stream of the discharge point of Josephine Brine Treatment Facility. Radium levels in the sediment at the discharge point are around 200 times the amount upstream of the facility. The radium levels are "above regulated levels" and present the "danger of slow bio-accumulation" eventually in fish. The Duke study "is the first to use isotope hydrology to connect the dots between shale gas waste, treatment sites and discharge into drinking water supplies." The study recommended "independent monitoring and regulation" in

3696-535: The economic extraction of shale gas . Mitchell was born to Greek immigrant parents in the port city of Galveston, Texas in 1919. His father, Savvas Paraskevopoulos, was from the village of Nestani in Arcadia , tended goats before immigrating to the United States in 1901, arriving at Ellis Island at the age of 20. He worked for railroads, and gradually moved west. When a paymaster got tired of writing his long name and threatened to fire him, Mr. Paraskevopoulos took

3773-467: The environment through the leaking of extraction chemicals and waste into water supplies, the leaking of greenhouse gases during extraction, and the pollution caused by the improper processing of natural gas . A challenge to preventing pollution is that shale gas extractions varies widely in this regard, even between different wells in the same project; the processes that reduce pollution sufficiently in one extraction may not be enough in another. In 2013

3850-495: The first economical shale fracture in 1998 using slick-water fracturing. Since then, natural gas from shale has been the fastest growing contributor to total primary energy in the United States, and has led many other countries to pursue shale deposits. According to the IEA, shale gas could increase technically recoverable natural gas resources by almost 50%. In 2000 shale gas provided only 1% of U.S. natural gas production; by 2010 it

3927-470: The focus of the organization. HARC was restructured to be an organization dedicated entirely to the application and development of sustainability science at the regional level. Since 2000, HARC's six core programs have grown and its revenues have increased fourfold. In 2005, George P. Mitchell established the Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science, which provides stable income for HARC's continuing operations. As of 2013, HARC engages in projects that have

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4004-496: The fracking process. Wyoming's Governor Matt Mead called the EPA draft report "scientifically questionable" and stressed the need for additional testing. The Casper Star-Tribune also reported on 27 December 2011, that the EPA's sampling and testing procedures "didn’t follow their own protocol" according to Mike Purcell, the director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission. A 2011 study by

4081-447: The fugitive emissions associated with unconventional gas extraction, undervalue[s] the contribution of 'green technologies' to reducing those emissions to a level approaching that of conventional gas, base[s] their comparison between gas and coal on heat rather than electricity generation (almost the sole use of coal), and assume[s] a time interval over which to compute the relative climate impact of gas compared to coal that does not capture

4158-412: The greenhouse gas emissions of coal; the noted exception was a 2011 study by Robert W. Howarth and others of Cornell University , which concluded that shale GHG emissions were as high as those of coal. More recent studies have also concluded that life-cycle shale gas GHG emissions are much less than those of coal, among them, studies by Natural Resources Canada (2012), and a consortium formed by

4235-422: The industry deems this "highly unlikely". However, foul-smelling odors and heavy metals contaminating the local water supply above-ground have been reported. Besides using water and industrial chemicals, it is also possible to frack shale gas with only liquified propane gas. This reduces the environmental degradation considerably. The method was invented by GasFrac, of Alberta, Canada. Hydraulic fracturing

4312-494: The industry for cutting an average of 41.6 million metric tons of methane emissions annually from 1990 through 2010, a reduction of more than 850 million metric tons overall. The Associated Press noted that "The EPA revisions came even though natural gas production has grown by nearly 40 percent since 1990." Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory yields

4389-481: The integrated 20-year period after emission. On the 100-year integrated time frame, this analysis claims shale gas is comparable to coal and worse than fuel oil. However, other studies have pointed out flaws with the paper and come to different conclusions. Among those are assessments by experts at the U.S. Department of Energy, peer-reviewed studies by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland, and

4466-462: The intention to help people thrive and nature flourish focusing on the science and engineering needed to understand and address issues related to air quality, clean energy, and water quality and supply. HARC's Air Quality & Climate Program includes air quality research and management, air emission reduction technologies, emissions monitoring technology and policy, and regional impacts of and adaptations to climate change . HARC's air research program

4543-449: The land for the main campus and the main campus is named in honor of Mitchell's father. Mitchell made numerous other gifts to the university over the years, including the donation of a yacht named S.V. Cynthia Woods named after his wife Cynthia. Mitchell had a lifelong passion for tennis, and the tennis center at Texas A&M University, where he was captain of the tennis team, was named in his honor. Built for an estimated $ 4.2 million,

4620-402: The location of its NEC SX-2, its first supercomputer in North America. The Houston Area Research Center changed its name to what HARC is presently known to stand for – The Houston Advanced Research Center – in 1990. Construction of HARC's microwave imaging facility was completed the following year. New laboratories were opened for DNA technology and geographical information systems centering on

4697-479: The official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 23, 1998. In 1984, he was the recipient of an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Houston . In 2004, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth as $ 1.6 billion, placing him among the 500 richest people worldwide . Mitchell died at the age of 94 on July 26, 2013, at his home in Galveston of natural causes, while surrounded by relatives. He

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4774-405: The paymaster's name, Mike Mitchell. Mike Mitchell settled in Galveston, where he ran a succession of shoe-shining and pressing shops. When he saw the picture of a beautiful woman in a local Greek newspaper, he headed for Florida, where she had settled, according to family lore. He persuaded her to abandon her fiancé and marry him. They lived above the shoeshine shop. In 1940, George Mitchell earned

4851-474: The pressing need for sustainable energy technologies and food sources worldwide." Working with Meadows and other national leaders Mitchell created The Woodlands Conference series and the International George and Cynthia Mitchell Prize, both dedicated to sustainable development . He was particularly interested in the role of the business community in creating sustainable societies and he himself

4928-433: The production of electricity using shale gas may lead to as much or more life-cycle GWP than electricity generated with oil or coal. In the peer-reviewed paper, Cornell University professor Robert W. Howarth , a marine ecologist, and colleagues claimed that once methane leak and venting impacts are included, the life-cycle greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas is far worse than those of coal and fuel oil when viewed for

5005-433: The program includes several areas: stationary fuel cells ; combined heat and power generation; energy market tools and products; strategic energy planning ; clean energy applications analysis; and clean energy policy analysis. HARC's Ecosystems and Water Resources Program emphasizes biodiversity , water quality and quantity, ecosystem informatics, economics , policy, and social and institutional analysis. The goal of

5082-462: The program is to link ecosystems and water resources to sustainable development through improved understanding of the interactions between humans and these resources and to facilitate regulatory, institutional and technological change and improved decision making. George P. Mitchell George Phydias Mitchell (May 21, 1919 – July 26, 2013) was an American businessman, real estate developer and philanthropist from Texas credited with pioneering

5159-429: The project. The master plan for the community called for preserving trees, protecting the environment, minimizing flooding and creating a "pleasant" urban environment. In 2010, The Woodlands was home to 97,000 people. When fully developed the population will have reached 130,000. He and his wife Cynthia played a major role in the revitalization of his hometown of Galveston. Mitchell and his wife Cynthia, along with

5236-410: The published studies for other regions, that shale gas in the United Kingdom would have a global warming potential "broadly similar" to that of conventional North Sea gas, although shale gas has the potential to be higher if fugitive methane emissions are not controlled, or if per-well ultimate recoveries in the UK are small. For the other parameters, the highlighted conclusions were that, for shale gas in

5313-417: The shale gas boom in recent years has been due to modern technology in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to create extensive artificial fractures around well bores. Horizontal drilling is often used with shale gas wells, with lateral lengths up to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) within the shale, to create maximum borehole surface area in contact with the shale. Shales that host economic quantities of gas have

5390-428: The shale matrix. Further, the adsorption of gas is a process of physisorption, exothermic and spontaneous. The gas in the fractures is produced immediately; the gas adsorbed onto organic material is released as the formation pressure is drawn down by the well. Although the shale gas potential of many nations is being studied, as of 2013, only the US, Canada, and China produce shale gas in commercial quantities, and only

5467-449: The size of the area) millions of liters of water are used, this means that hundreds of thousands of liters of chemicals are often injected into the subsurface. About 50% to 70% of the injected volume of contaminated water is recovered and stored in above-ground ponds to await removal by tanker. The remaining volume remains in the subsurface. Hydraulic fracturing opponents fear that it can lead to contamination of groundwater aquifers , though

5544-558: The start of this century, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world. China is estimated to have the world's largest shale gas reserves. A 2013 review by the United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change noted that most studies of the subject have estimated that life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas are similar to those of conventional natural gas, and are much less than those from coal, usually about half

5621-483: The work of Tim Saldaña. In 1993, HARC researchers in the high-bay test facility set a world record for the highest current through a super-conducting cable. Working together with Varian Instruments , HARC produced the world's first actively shielded magnet for NMR spectroscopy to The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1995. After a review of HARC programs, in 2000 HARC leaders decided to narrow

5698-576: Was estimated to be 27% of the total resource. "Wet natural gas" is methane plus natural gas liquids , and is more valuable than dry gas. For the rest of the world (excluding US), EIA estimated (2013) a total wet natural gas resource of 20,451 trillion cubic feet (579.1 × 10 ^  m ). Shale gas was estimated to be 32% of the total resource. Europe has a shale gas resource estimate of 639 trillion cubic feet (18.1 × 10 ^  m ) compared with America's reserves 862 trillion cubic feet (24.4 × 10 ^  m ), but its geology

5775-865: Was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 . A study published in May 2011 concluded that shale gas wells have seriously contaminated shallow groundwater supplies in northeastern Pennsylvania with flammable methane . However, the study does not discuss how pervasive such contamination might be in other areas drilled for shale gas. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 23 June 2011 that it will examine claims of water pollution related to hydraulic fracturing in Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Louisiana. On 8 December 2011,

5852-454: Was over 20% and the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that by 2035, 46% of the United States' natural gas supply will come from shale gas. The Obama administration believed that increased shale gas development would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions . Because shales ordinarily have insufficient permeability to allow significant fluid flow to a wellbore, most shales are not commercial sources of natural gas. Shale gas

5929-413: Was predeceased by his wife, Cynthia, who died on December 27, 2009, and his two brothers, Christie and Johnny. He was survived by his sister, Maria Mitchell Ballantyne; his ten children, daughters Pamela Maguire, Meredith Dreiss and Sheridan Lorenz, and sons Scott, Mark, Kent, Greg , Kirk, Todd and Grant; 23 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren and 19 nieces and nephews. Shale gas Shale gas

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