Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy.
Disclosing the Facts 2014 : Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations
[Bloomberg] While a handful of shale drillers including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) are providing better information to investors on the risks posed by fracking, industry wide efforts still fall short. – via As You Sow | Boston Common Asset Management | Green Century Capital Management | Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN)
The Economic and Budgetary Effects of Producing Oil and Natural Gas From Shale
Recent advances in combining two drilling techniques, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, have allowed access to large deposits of shale resources—that is, crude oil and natural gas trapped in shale and certain other dense rock formations. As a result, the cost of that “tight oil” and “shale gas” has become competitive with the cost of oil and gas extracted from other sources. Virtually nonexistent a decade ago, the development of shale resources has boomed in the United States, producing about 3.5 million barrels of tight oil per day and about 9.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of shale gas per year. Those amounts equal about 30 percent of U.S. production of liquid fuels (which include crude oil, biofuels, and natural gas liquids) and 40 percent of U.S. production of natural gas. Shale development has also affected the federal budget, chiefly by increasing tax revenues. – via Congressional Budget Office
New York State: A Public Health Review of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development
[New York Times] … the long-awaited health study finally materialized, its findings made public during a year-end cabinet meeting convened by the governor in Albany. – via New York State Dept. of Health
US Dept. of Energy Responds to Nature article, “The Fracking Fallacy”
EIA has responded to a December 4, 2014 Nature article on projections of shale gas production made by EIA and by the Bureau of Economic Geology of the University of Texas at Austin (BEG/UT) with a letter to the editors of Nature. – via US doe Energy Information Administration
Proof Positive: The Mechanics and Impacts of British Columbia’s Carbon Tax
In 2008, British Columbia announced a bold new climate policy: North America’s first revenue-neutral tax on carbon pollution. Today, it is the toast of the world… – via Clean Energy Canada
