Shale Gas – Environmental Aspects, Technical Parameters and Explorations in TIMER

Abstract

Over the last ten years the shale gas industry in North America has flourished. The ensuing economic success has inspired other countries to start investigating their own domestic shale gas potential. However, the environmental consequences of shale gas production are still a fiercely debated matter. Also, the effects of increased unconventional gas availability on the energy system are still up for discussion. Proponents point at the possibilities of shale gas functioning as a bridge-fuel to a sustainable energy system, whereas opponents fear, amongst other concerns, a decreased interest in renewables. This research attempts to give some insight into the matter by giving an extensive literature review of the technical parameters and the environmental aspects of shale gas development. Furthermore, a scenario-based model study was performed with the Target Image Energy Regional Model (TIMER) in order to examine the effects of increased unconventional gas availability on the energy system.