The Immediate Risks of Gas Production to Water Resources

摘要

The term "unconventional" gas refers to natural gas trapped in geology with low permeability that cannot be extracted using the formation's natural pressure to push the gas upwards in the production well. Hydraulic fracturing or other advanced technologies are therefore required to recover an economically viable quantity of gas from these formations. Because a large part of the world's remaining unconventional gas reserves are located in countries that have traditionally been gas importers, the increasing economic viability of these resources could allow these countries to gain increased gas independence. However, the very techniques that have allowed this expansion to take place have also met with widespread contention and public scepticism.