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1466 27 JUNE 2014 VOL 344 ISSUE 6191 sciencemag.org SCIENCE
known in the industryare found aroundthe world (see map, p.
1467). So far, however,the shale gas boom is largely confined to
theUnited States, where over the past decadecompanies have drilled
thousands of frack-ing wells into once obscure geological
for-mations, including the Marcellus Shale inPennsylvania, the
Barnett in Texas, and theHaynesville in Louisiana. (In other
shaleplays, such as the Bakken in North Dakota,fracking is
primarily used to produce oil.)
The resulting surge in natural gas is re-making U.S. energy
marketsand causingeconomic ripple effects globally. Shale gashas
made the United States the worlds lead-ing natural gas producer and
now accountsfor about 40% of U.S. production, up fromless than 2%
in 2001. The share is projectedto grow to 53% by 2040, and natural
gasprices have tumbled as abundance grows(see graphs, p. 1467).
Thats helped acceler-ate a shift away from coal to natural gas
for
generating electricity and prompted energy-intensive
manufacturing firms to shift pro-duction from overseas factories to
the UnitedStates, creating hundreds of thousands of
jobs. The United States is also boosting natu-ral gas exports to
other nationsreversing itstraditional role as an energy
importer.
The shale gas shake-up has been accom-panied by plenty of
controversyand newresearchas the stories in this special sec-tion
illustrate. Scientists are debating frack-
Geophysicists at Chesapeake Energy use 3Dvisualizations to plan
fracking wells, whichstretch horizontally into shale deposits.
SP EC I AL SE CT IO N GAS REVOLUTION SP EC I AL SE CT IO N
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ings impact on water quality (see p. 1468)and whether the shale
gas boom will helpor hurt efforts to curb climate change (seep.
1472). They are also exploring potentiallinks to human-caused
earthquakes ( Science ,23 March 2012, p. 1436), air pollution,
andhabitat fragmentation.
Basic researchers are also sizing up thisnew resource. They are
searching for lifedeep in shale deposits (p. 1470) and poten-tially
transformative ways to convert the
methane in natural gas into liquid fuels andother chemicals (p.
1474). Some are exam-ining the origins of shale gas, trying to
de-termine whether it is primarily the productof methane-producing
microbes or thermal
breakdown of organic matter (see p. 1500). And analysts continue
to debate just howmuch shale gas is really out thereand howquickly
the current boom could turn bust.
For the moment, any downturn seemsdistant. Canada, which already
gets 15% of
its natural gas from shale, is ramping upproduction. China,
Europe, and Russia areeyeing their essentially untapped shale
de-posits. Public opposition to fracking is grow-ing in some
nations, however, and drillingtechnologies that have performed well
inthe United States may not work well over-seas, where the shale
can have very differentproperties. One thing is clear: The shale
gasrevolution is still in its infancy, with plentyof growing pains
ahead.
Basins withresource estimateBasins withoutresource estimate
Source: U.S. EnergyInformation Administration
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy
Outlook 2012
2
4
6
8
10
1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 204
12
2 0 1 2 d o
l l a r s p e r m
i l l i o n
B t u Past Projected
Lower recoveryrates from wells
Higher recoveryrates from wells
Referencescenario
The world has vast deposits of gas-rich shale Six nationsthe
United States, China, Argentina, Algeria, Canada, and Mexicoholdan
estimated 80% of documented shale gas deposits.
but so far shale gas has had the biggest impact in the United
States As other U.S. sources of natural gas decline, shale gas
production is projected toexpand and provide 53% of the total by
2040.
where abundant supplies have helped reduce natural gas
prices.Future natural gas prices will depend, in part, on the
future productivity of wells.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas
Annual 2012 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040
Past Projected
Shale gas
All other sources
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
T r
i l l i o n c u
b i c f e e
t
P bli h d b AAAS
