"Shale gas should make the world a cleaner, safer place" - The Economist, 6 August, 2011 Click here
The Map of the Golden Age of Gas shows that China and America have respectively the world's largest and second largest technically recoverable shale gas reserve. The IEA scenario chart shows that the share of unconventional gas, including shale, is increasing from 12% in 2008 to 25% of global gas production by 2035.
An Economist Intelligence Unit report 2011 (Table 1-3) shows China has the world's largest technically recoverable shale gas resources at 1,275 trillion cubic feet, ahead of the United States at 862 tcf. China lags behind the U.S. in shale gas technology and has still to roll out a comprehensive plan to grow the market and achieve economy of scale. These difficiencies, however, are not insurmountable. Click here
Shale gas is set to become a gloabl game-changer as it defines the global energy landscape, with epochal repercussions in geopolitics across the globe. For starters, it will significantly reduce global oil dictatorship of the Middle East (Chapter 6 - Hot, Flat and Crowded, Thomas Friedman, 2009) as well as change energy game plans in the United States and China.
China's shale gas reserves are located in much more difficult geological terrain. Moreover, shale gas extraction is extremely water-intensive with high risks of aquifer contamination. So a water-scarce and water-polluted China has to figure out how best to square the circle.
The following reports contain useful data and ideas for the future, addressing broader issues of the environment, Climate Change, governance, and energy geopolitics.
"Abundant Shale Gas Resources: Some Implications for Energy Policy" dated April, 2010
by Stephen P.A. Brown, Steven A. Gabriel, and Ruud Egging, a Background Paper for the Resources for the Future and National Energy Policy Institute project “Toward a New National Energy Policy: Assessing the Options” Click here
Are we entering a Golden Age of Gas? Special Report, World Energy Outlook 2011, International Energy Agency. Click here
World Shale Gas Resources: An Initial Assessment of 14 Regions Outside the United States, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 5 April, 2011 Click here
Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Gas "Special Report on Unconventional Gas", World Energy Outlook 2012, International Energy Agency Click here
Edge Debate, ""Shale Gas: A game changer?", 23 April, 2012 Click here
"China has high hopes for shale gas"", Worldwatch Insitute, 16 August, 2012 Click here
Central China Will Be the Battleground Where- Shale Gas Competes With New Low-Cost Coal Supplies, ChinaSignPost, a strategic analysis organisation -28 Sept, 2012
"China's Growing Natural Gas Insecurity and the Potential of Chinese Shale Gas", John Seaman, IFRI, a leading Paris-based global think tank, April, 2013 Click here
"From Sunset to New Dawn", an article in The Economist, 16 November, 2013, shows how a golden age of gas would help turn America's industry and economy around, creating millions of new jobs across many sectors. Click here
"China Natural Gas Shortage Poised to Drive Record LNG Imports", a report dated 9 December 2013 by China SignPost Download China's Gas Shortage Poised to Drive Record LNG Imports, ChinaSignPost
"China's shale gas revolution - Will it take off?" - A report dated 17 January 2014 in China Dialogue, a publication on China's environment, shows how western energy companies are flocking to China to help unlock its shale reserves. Click here
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