Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development

Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 0309312604

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Natural gas in deep shale formations, which can be developed by hydraulic fracturing and associated technologies (often collectively referred to as "fracking") is dramatically increasing production of natural gas in the United States, where significant gas deposits exist in formations that underlie many states. Major deposits of shale gas exist in many other countries as well. Proponents of shale gas development point to several kinds of benefits, for instance, to local economies and to national "energy independence". Shale gas development has also brought increasing expression of concerns about risks, including to human health, environmental quality, non-energy economic activities in shale regions, and community cohesion. Some of these potential risks are beginning to receive careful evaluation; others are not. Although the risks have not yet been fully characterized or all of them carefully analyzed, governments at all levels are making policy decisions, some of them hard to reverse, about shale gas development and/or how to manage the risks. Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development is the summary of two workshops convened in May and August 2013 by the National Research Council's Board on Environmental Change and Society to consider and assess claims about the levels and types of risk posed by shale gas development and about the adequacy of existing governance procedures. Participants from engineering, natural, and social scientific communities examined the range of risks and of social and decision-making issues in risk characterization and governance related to gas shale development. Central themes included risk governance in the context of (a) risks that emerge as shale gas development expands, and (b) incomplete or declining regulatory capacity in an era of budgetary stringency. This report summarizes the presentations on risk issues raised in the first workshop, the risk management and governance concepts presented at the second workshop, and the discussions at both workshops.


Carbon Capture and Storage in International Energy Policy and Law

Carbon Capture and Storage in International Energy Policy and Law

Author: Hirdan Katarina de Medeiros Costa

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2021-10-13

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0323853706

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Carbon Capture and Storage in International Energy Policy and Law identifies the main contemporary regulatory requirements, challenges and opportunities involving CCS from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. It draws on the scholarship of renowned researchers across the fields of international energy law and policy to address CCS regulation and its impact on climate change, sustainable development, and related consequences for energy transition. In this vein, the book aims to address issues related to energy, energy justice and climate changes (including CCS technology). Contributors discuss the main challenges and advantages concerning international energy and the forms CCS may contribute to energy security, climate change, adaptation and mitigation of GHG emissions and sustainable development. In this light, the book discusses CCS as a bridge that integrates international energy, climate change and sustainable development. - Covers contemporary regulatory command-and-control and market incentive instruments across the local, regional and/or international spheres in-depth and in comparison - Reviews deregulatory impacts, modern financing of CCS, liability of the involved parties, and pertinent environmental issues - Addresses sociotechnical aspects of CCS and its specific impact on the international arena - Discusses the interplay of carbon capture and storage, renewables and the overall energy transition, current pathways to sustainable development


Risks, Rewards and Regulation of Unconventional Gas

Risks, Rewards and Regulation of Unconventional Gas

Author: R. Quentin Grafton

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 110712008X

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This book explains the drivers and implications of unconventional gas at regional, national and global scales with case studies and in-depth analyses.


Sustainable Development Studies

Sustainable Development Studies

Author: C.A. Brebbia

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2018-02-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1784662836

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It is clear that the challenge of achieving a more sustainable development pathway requires both new knowledge and the wider uptake of existing knowledge, polices and technologies. It is also essential that sustainability is built into urban development plans as the world’s population becomes increasingly urbanised and a wide range of social and environmental problems occur. Containing a series of specially selected papers, this book deals with advances in disciplines contributing to sustainable development, such as planning, architecture, engineering, policy making, environmental sciences and economics, and identifies solutions to challenges posed by sustainable development. Written by researchers and practitioners from many different countries, the included papers provide a unique reference of experience and potential solutions to common problems via the application of planning and development strategies, assessment tools and decision making processes.


Environmental and Health Issues in Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

Environmental and Health Issues in Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

Author: Debra A Kaden

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2015-12-07

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0128041250

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Environmental and Health Issues in Unconventional Oil and Gas Development offers a series of authoritative perspectives from varied viewpoints on key issues relevant in the use of directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, providing a timely presentation of requisite information on the implications of these technologies for those connected to unconventional oil and shale gas development. Utilizing expertise from a range of contributors in academia, non-governmental organizations, and the oil and gas industry, Environmental and Health Issues in Unconventional Oil and Gas Development is an essential resource for academics and professionals in the oil and gas, environmental, and health and safety industries as well as for policy makers. - Offers a multi-disciplinary appreciation of the environmental and health issues related to unconventional oil and shale gas development - Serves as a collective resource for academics and professionals in the oil and gas, environmental, health, and safety industries, as well as environmental scientists and policymakers - Features a diverse and expert group of chapter authors from academia, non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies, and the oil and gas industry


Governing Shale Gas

Governing Shale Gas

Author: John Whitton

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-07-27

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 1317267567

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Shale energy development is an issue of global importance. The number of reserves globally, and their potential economic return, have increased dramatically in the past decade. Questions abound, however, about the appropriate governance systems to manage the risks of unconventional oil and gas development and the ability for citizens to engage and participate in decisions regarding these systems. Stakeholder participation is essential for the social and political legitimacy of energy extraction and production, what the industry calls a 'social license' to operate. This book attempts to bring together critical themes inherent in the energy governance literature and illustrate them through cases in multiple countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Germany and Poland. These themes include how multiple actors and institutions – industry, governments and regulatory bodies at all scales, communities, opposition movements, and individual landowners – have roles in developing, contesting, monitoring, and enforcing practices and regulations within unconventional oil and gas development. Overall, the book proposes a systemic, participatory, community-led approach required to achieve a form of legitimacy that allows communities to derive social priorities by a process of community visioning. This book will be of great relevance to scholars and policy-makers with an interest in shale gas development, and energy policy and governance.


The Shale Dilemma

The Shale Dilemma

Author: Shanti Gamper-Rabindran

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2017-11-30

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 082298301X

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The US shale boom and efforts by other countries to exploit their shale resources could reshape energy and environmental landscapes across the world. But how might those landscapes change? Will countries with significant physical reserves try to exploit them? Will they protect or harm local communities and the global climate? Will the benefits be shared or retained by powerful interests? And how will these decisions be made? The Shale Dilemma brings together experts working at the forefront of shale gas issues on four continents to explain how countries reach their decisions on shale development. Using a common analytical framework, the authors identify both local factors and transnational patterns in the decision-making process. Eight case studies reveal the trade-offs each country makes as it decides whether to pursue, delay, or block development. Those outcomes in turn reflect the nature of a country's political process and the power of interest groups on both sides of the issue. The contributors also ask whether the economic arguments made by the shale industry and its government supporters have overshadowed the concerns of local communities for information on the effects of shale operations, and for tax policies and regulations to ensure broad-based economic development and environmental protection. As an informative and even-handed account, The Shale Dilemma recommends practical steps to help countries reach better, more transparent, and more far-sighted decisions.


Democratizing Risk Governance

Democratizing Risk Governance

Author: Monica Gattinger

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-04-28

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 3031242718

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This open access book features contributions from a multidisciplinary team of leading and emerging scholars focused on democratization of risk assessment, management, and communication. The volume identifies and sheds light on key risk governance dilemmas related to public trust, risk perception and public participation. The first part of the book articulates the relationship among science, expertise, deliberation and public values, featuring an in-depth analysis of the concept of ‘motivated reasoning,’ and the role of trust, values and worldviews in understanding and addressing contemporary controversies over risk decision-making. The volume’s second part features eight case studies from three policy fields – energy, genomics, and public health – and a special section dedicated to vaccine decision-making for Covid-19. Chapters analyze the level, nature and mechanisms of public involvement in risk decision-making, assessing its contribution to the effectiveness and legitimacy of decisions. The case studies focus predominantly on Canada, but they draw on global scholarship and are of direct relevance for scholars and practitioners of risk governance in any country.


How Should Shale Gas Extraction Be Taxed?

How Should Shale Gas Extraction Be Taxed?

Author: Philip Daniel

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2017-11-16

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13: 1484328493

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This paper suggests that the environmental and commercial features of shale gas extraction do not warrant a significantly different fiscal regime than recommended for conventional gas. Fiscal policies may have a role in addressing some environmental risks (e.g., greenhouse gases, scarce water, local air pollution) though in some cases their net benefits may be modest. Simulation analyses suggest, moreover, that special fiscal regimes are generally less important than other factors in determining shale gas investments (hence there appears little need for them), yet they forego significant revenues.


Advances in Energy Systems Engineering

Advances in Energy Systems Engineering

Author: Georgios M. Kopanos

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-17

Total Pages: 837

ISBN-13: 3319428039

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This book provides a scientific framework for integrated solutions to complex energy problems. It adopts a holistic, systems-based approach to demonstrate the potential of an energy systems engineering approach to systematically quantify different options at various levels of complexity (technology, plant, energy supply chain, mega-system). Utilizing modeling, simulation and optimization-based frameworks, along with a number of real-life applications, it focuses on advanced energy systems including energy supply chains, integrated biorefineries, energy planning and scheduling approaches and urban energy systems. Featuring contributions from leading researchers in the field, this work is useful for academics, researchers, industry practitioners in energy systems engineering, and all those who are involved in model-based energy systems.