A Review of Environmental Risks in Shale Gas Development

The rapid expansion of scale and area of shale gas production has raised a concern on potential environmental risks of shale gas development. Based on this concern, this chapter provides a description of shale gas resources and how it escalated into an energy revolution in the U.S. firstly. Thereafter, the extant literature on environmental risks in the shale gas industry worldwide is reviewed to understand the risks that shale gas development posed to water resources, air quality and climate change. The review shows that issues related to water resources and methane emissions are two most important environmental risks although the specific estimated results may vary each other. Finally, potential countermeasures for dealing with these risks are also provided by examining the theoretical and empirical literature on environmental enforcement and compliance.