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Analysis of the Energy Balance of Shale Gas Development

Author

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  • Hiroaki Yaritani

    (Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan)

  • Jun Matsushima

    (Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan)

Abstract

Interest has rapidly grown in the use of unconventional resources to compensate for depletion of conventional hydrocarbon resources (“easy hydrocarbon”) that are produced at relatively low cost from oil and gas fields with large proven reserves. When one wants to ensure the prospects for development of unconventional resources that are potentially vast in terms of their energy potential, it is essential to determine the quality of that energy. Here we consider the development of shale gas, an unconventional energy resource of particularly strong interest of late, through analysis of its energy return on investment (EROI), a key indicator for qualitative assessment of energy resources. We used a Monte Carlo approach for the carbon footprint of U.S. operations in shale gas development to estimate expected ranges of EROI values by incorporating parameter variability. We obtained an EROI of between 13 and 23, with a mean of approximately 17 at the start of the pipeline. When we incorporated all the costs required to bring shale gas to the consumer, the mean value of EROI drops from about 17 at the start of the pipeline to 12 when delivered to the consumer. The shale gas EROI values estimated in the present study are in the initial stage of shale gas exploitation where the quality of that resource may be considerably higher than the mean and thus the careful and continuous investigation of change in EROI is needed, especially as production moves off the initial “sweet spots”.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiroaki Yaritani & Jun Matsushima, 2014. "Analysis of the Energy Balance of Shale Gas Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:7:y:2014:i:4:p:2207-2227:d:34842
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Sergei Sabanov & Abdullah Rasheed Qureshi & Zhaudir Dauitbay & Gulim Kurmangazy, 2023. "A Method for the Modified Estimation of Oil Shale Mineable Reserves for Shale Oil Projects: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Brandt, Adam R. & Yeskoo, Tim & Vafi, Kourosh, 2015. "Net energy analysis of Bakken crude oil production using a well-level engineering-based model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P2), pages 2191-2198.
    4. Chen, Xuejun & Lu, Hailong & Gu, Lijuan & Shang, Shilong & Zhang, Yi & Huang, Xin & Zhang, Le, 2022. "Preliminary evaluation of the economic potential of the technologies for gas hydrate exploitation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Devin Moeller & David Murphy, 2016. "Net Energy Analysis of Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Louis Delannoy & Pierre-Yves Longaretti & David. J. Murphy & Emmanuel Prados, 2021. "Assessing Global Long-Term EROI of Gas: A Net-Energy Perspective on the Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Wang, Jianliang & Liu, Mingming & McLellan, Benjamin C. & Tang, Xu & Feng, Lianyong, 2017. "Environmental impacts of shale gas development in China: A hybrid life cycle analysis," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 38-45.
    8. Carlo Andrea Bollino & Francesco Asdrubali & Paolo Polinori & Simona Bigerna & Silvia Micheli & Claudia Guattari & Antonella Rotili, 2017. "A Note on Medium- and Long-Term Global Energy Prospects and Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-25, May.
    9. Ke Wang & Harrie Vredenburg & Jianliang Wang & Yi Xiong & Lianyong Feng, 2017. "Energy Return on Investment of Canadian Oil Sands Extraction from 2009 to 2015," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    10. Roman Nogovitsyn & Anton Sokolov, 2014. "Preliminary Calculation of the EROI for the Production of Gas in Russia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-15, September.
    11. Minyue Zhou & Yifei Zhang & Runqing Zhou & Jin Hao & Jijin Yang, 2018. "Mechanical Property Measurements and Fracture Propagation Analysis of Longmaxi Shale by Micro-CT Uniaxial Compression," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, May.
    12. Devin Moeller & David Murphy, 2019. "Comments on Energy Return on Investment (EROI): Reconciling Boundary and Methodological Issues," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1-3, June.

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