The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
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On December 14, 2011, the RAND Corporation hosted and moderated a roundtable conference, “Feasibility and Challenges of Using Acid Mine Drainage for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction,” with funding from the Marcellus Shale Coalition. The event brought together representatives from industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations to examine the use of coal mine water and, specifically, drainage from actively managed and abandoned coal mines to support hydraulic fracturing (popularly known as “fracking”) operations in the Marcellus Shale formation. The goal of the one-day conference was to assess the feasibility of such approaches, to examine the potential economic and environmental impacts, and …
View Full ResourceNatural gas comprises about a quarter of the United States’ energy use. It is more environmentally friendly than oil and coal due to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit, less costly per unit of energy and more readily available domestically in abundant supply. However, due to a number of barriers in the political, infrastructural, pricing and other arenas, the use of natural gas as a significant energy source in the United States has been limited. In our paper, we highlight the favorable qualities of natural gas and its benefits for the consumer, producer, and environment, having compared the costs… View Full Resource
In a relatively short period of time—less than five years—technological breakthroughs have unlocked massive quanti- ties of natural gas in shale deposits that were previously thought to be unprofitable. The International Energy Agency’s latest estimate of global natural gas resources is more than double the estimate it put forward in 2008. And much of that gas is in the United States. For decades, drillers were unable to extract profitable quantities of natural gas from low-permeability shale, coal beds, and tights sands deposits. In recent years, however, drillers have perfected two techniques that have long histories in the oil and gas… View Full Resource
On December 14, 2011, the RAND Corporation hosted and moderated a roundtable conference, “Feasibility and Challenges of Using Acid Mine Drainage for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction,” with funding from the Marcellus Shale Coalition. The event brought together representatives from industry, academia, and nonprofit organizations to examine the use of coal mine water and, specifically, drainage from actively managed and abandoned coal mines to support hydraulic fracturing (popularly known as “fracking”) operations in the Marcellus Shale formation. The goal of the one-day conference was to assess the feasibility of such approaches, to examine the potential economic and environmental impacts, and …
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We evaluate the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas obtained by high- volume hydraulic fracturing from shale formations, focusing on methane emissions. Natural gas is composed largely of methane, and 3.6% to 7.9% of the methane from shale-gas production escapes to the atmosphere in venting and leaks over the life- time of a well. These methane emissions are at least 30% more than and perhaps more than twice as great as those from conventional gas. The higher emissions from shale gas occur at the time wells are hydraulically fractured—as methane escapes from flow-back return fluids—and during drill out following the… View Full Resource
With energy prices on a precipitous rise in recent years, industry and government have high hopes that the discovery of large natural gas deposits in the United States will provide a cheaper fuel option while boosting the domestic economy. Relatively new technology allows gas companies to extract natural gas from formerly inaccessible shale at greater depths than ever before. Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” can now be used to extract natural gas by drilling wells, usually thousands of feet below the surface, then drilling horizontally, and ultimately injecting millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure …
View Full ResourceThis paper focuses on the politics of regulating natural gas fracking operations in Colorado and Texas. Between state differences in the economic importance of natural gas production, political traditions, environmental impacts of drilling activities, and local governmental responses to risk reduction, and entrepreneurial activities are discussed in relation to policymaking initiatives. In the concluding section, this article suggest that Colorado’s regulatory approach offers a greater degree of environmental protection than Texas. Key reforms adopted in 2007-8 can be largely attributed to electoral victories that ensured unified party control over state government and the determined efforts of the pro-environmental governor to …
View Full ResourceShindell et al. (2012) noted that the climate system is more immediately responsive to changes in methane (and black carbon) emissions than carbon dioxide emissions (Fig. 1). They predicted that unless emissions of methane and black carbon are reduced immediately, the Earth will warm to 1.5o C by 2030 and to 2.0o C by 2045 to 2050 whether or not carbon dioxide emissions are reduced. Reducing methane and black carbon emissions,even if carbon dioxide is not controlled, would significantly slow the rate of global warming and postpone reaching the 1.5o C and 2.0o C marks by 12 to 15 years. …
View Full ResourceThe past few years have seen major changes both in our understanding of the importance of methane as a driver of global climate change and in the importance of natural gas systems as a source of atmospheric methane. Here, we summarize the current state of knowledge, relying on peer-reviewed literature.… View Full Resource