Worrying environmental risks of shale gas development

Development of  shale gas  is entering the fast lane, but the resulting environmental risk but should not be underestimated. Experts pointed out that China is facing shale gas development in water pollution, air pollution, geological damage and many other environmental risks, drilling a well just as much as several million dollars environmental expenses. Even more worrying is that the current exploitation of shale gas associated with environmental laws and regulations are basically a blank, shale gas development environmental risk doubled. To this end, the experts suggested that the state departments and local governments should draw shale gas associated with environmental laws and regulations, improve the environment throughout the shale gas regulatory regime. Environmental risk huge worrying Assessment Center for Environmental Engineering, deputy chief engineer Ren Jingming that shale gas development in our process, faced with water pollution, air pollution and geological damage and many environmental risks. "Water pollution has become the largest shale gas development environmental risks." Ministry of Environmental Protection and Economic Policy Research Center, Dr. Wu Yuping representation. According to introduction, horizontal drilling and  hydraulic fracturing  of  Unconventional gas  exploitation core technology. In the mining process, you will need thousands of tons of water, sand and chemicals additives are mixed into a liquid (ie fracturing fluid) pressed into the rock underground twelve kilometers split, so that shale gas escaping from the rock. And in this process, these chemicals may directly through faults, fractures system up from deep underground to the surface or shallow, it could leak into the groundwater layer, on the rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers caused pollution. Meanwhile, fracking shale gas also brought a large number of wastewater, wastewater containing these hydrocarbons, heavy metals, radioactive substances, salt and 100 kinds of chemical substances that may cause groundwater pollution. As the earlier areas of shale gas in Sichuan Weiyuan County town since 2007, cooperation with foreign companies by PetroChina has drilled three shale gas test wells, each well over 10,000 cubic meters of gas per day , has begun civil. New town and old farm village Chen Zhaoming, said: "Two years ago when drilling with a lot of water, and many are pumping groundwater, when the villagers drinking water dropped groundwater, water stale, and sometimes grease; Now Although it is not drilling, but the groundwater significantly increased scale than in the past, the water taste salty. "In Chongqing Liangping, Fuling, Qianjiang and other shale gas exploration is being implemented counties, local residents shale gas Similarly existence environmental worries, they occurred in December 23, 2003 Kaixian gas "blowout" event fresh. "I do not know whether shale gas will also bring out the underground toxic gases?" In this regard, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Economic Policy Research Center Associate Dr. Feng Xiangzhao believes that shale gas mining process, emit many volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants on human health impact. "Compared with conventional oil and gas exploration, shale gas mining process a greater amount of methane leakage. Conventional oil and gas methane leak was only more than one percentage point, while the process of shale gas has accounted for the amount of methane leaking gas production 3.6% ~ 7.9%. "In addition, Ren Jingming said shale gas used in hydraulic fracturing  Proppant technology is likely to cause geological damage. "In the case of the same production, shale gas Ida Ida conventional natural gas area is about ten times the area, conventional gas rig count reached 100 times or more, water consumption is about 10 times that of conventional natural gas if the wells layout is more intensive, large-scale drilling once, would interfere with densely populated areas, are likely to cause landslides and other geological disasters. "