A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States
This paper reviews recent developments in the production and use of unconventional natural gas in the United States with a focus on water and greenhouse gas emission implications. If unconventional natural gas in the U.S. is produced responsibly, transported and distributed with little leakage, and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128428 |
| _version_ | 1826211478144811008 |
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| author | Arent, Douglas Logan, Jeffrey Macknick, Jordan Boyd, William Medlock, Kenneth O'Sullivan, Francis Martin Edmonds, Jae Clarke, Leon Huntington, Hillard Heath, Garvin Statwick, Patricia Bazilian, Morgan |
| author2 | MIT Energy Initiative |
| author_facet | MIT Energy Initiative Arent, Douglas Logan, Jeffrey Macknick, Jordan Boyd, William Medlock, Kenneth O'Sullivan, Francis Martin Edmonds, Jae Clarke, Leon Huntington, Hillard Heath, Garvin Statwick, Patricia Bazilian, Morgan |
| author_sort | Arent, Douglas |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This paper reviews recent developments in the production and use of unconventional natural gas in the United States with a focus on water and greenhouse gas emission implications. If unconventional natural gas in the U.S. is produced responsibly, transported and distributed with little leakage, and incorporated into integrated energy systems that are designed for future resiliency, it could play a significant role in realizing a more sustainable energy future; however, the increased use of natural gas as a substitute for more carbon intensive fuels will alone not substantially alter world carbon dioxide concentration projections.
This paper reviews recent developments in the production and use of unconventional natural gas in the United States with a focus on environmental impacts. Specifically, we focus on water management and greenhouse gas emission implications. If unconventional natural gas in the United States is produced responsibly, transported and distributed with little leakage, and incorporated into integrated energy systems that are designed for future resiliency, it could play a significant role in realizing a more sustainable energy future. The cutting-edge of industry water management practices gives a picture of how this transition is unfolding, although much opportunity remains to minimize water use and related environmental impacts. The role of natural gas to mitigate climate forcing is less clear. While natural gas has low CO2 emissions upon direct use, methane leakage and long term climate effects lead to the conclusion that increased use of natural gas as a substitute for more carbon intensive fuels will not substantially alter world carbon dioxide concentration projections, and that other zero or low carbon energy sources will be needed to limit GHG concentrations. We conclude with some possible avenues for further work. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:06:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/128428 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:06:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1284282022-10-02T00:38:24Z A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States Arent, Douglas Logan, Jeffrey Macknick, Jordan Boyd, William Medlock, Kenneth O'Sullivan, Francis Martin Edmonds, Jae Clarke, Leon Huntington, Hillard Heath, Garvin Statwick, Patricia Bazilian, Morgan MIT Energy Initiative This paper reviews recent developments in the production and use of unconventional natural gas in the United States with a focus on water and greenhouse gas emission implications. If unconventional natural gas in the U.S. is produced responsibly, transported and distributed with little leakage, and incorporated into integrated energy systems that are designed for future resiliency, it could play a significant role in realizing a more sustainable energy future; however, the increased use of natural gas as a substitute for more carbon intensive fuels will alone not substantially alter world carbon dioxide concentration projections. This paper reviews recent developments in the production and use of unconventional natural gas in the United States with a focus on environmental impacts. Specifically, we focus on water management and greenhouse gas emission implications. If unconventional natural gas in the United States is produced responsibly, transported and distributed with little leakage, and incorporated into integrated energy systems that are designed for future resiliency, it could play a significant role in realizing a more sustainable energy future. The cutting-edge of industry water management practices gives a picture of how this transition is unfolding, although much opportunity remains to minimize water use and related environmental impacts. The role of natural gas to mitigate climate forcing is less clear. While natural gas has low CO2 emissions upon direct use, methane leakage and long term climate effects lead to the conclusion that increased use of natural gas as a substitute for more carbon intensive fuels will not substantially alter world carbon dioxide concentration projections, and that other zero or low carbon energy sources will be needed to limit GHG concentrations. We conclude with some possible avenues for further work. 2020-11-09T16:42:47Z 2020-11-09T16:42:47Z 2015 2020-10-04T03:26:29Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2329-2229 2329-2237 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128428 Arent, Douglas et al. "A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States." MRS Energy & Sustainability 2, 1 (June 2015): E4 © 2015 Cambridge University Press en https://doi.org/10.1557/mre.2015.5 MRS Energy & Sustainability : A Review Journal Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ The Materials Research Society application/pdf Cambridge University Press (CUP) Springer International Publishing |
| spellingShingle | Arent, Douglas Logan, Jeffrey Macknick, Jordan Boyd, William Medlock, Kenneth O'Sullivan, Francis Martin Edmonds, Jae Clarke, Leon Huntington, Hillard Heath, Garvin Statwick, Patricia Bazilian, Morgan A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title | A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title_full | A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title_fullStr | A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title_short | A review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the United States |
| title_sort | review of water and greenhouse gas impacts of unconventional natural gas development in the united states |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128428 |
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