Full title: Unconventional: The Development of Natural Gas from the Marcellus Shale

Author: Daniel J. Soeder

"Daniel Soeder’s new GSA Special Paper on the Marcellus offers citizens and scientists a generally lively, well-written, and measured account of the science, engineering, and controversy." --Don Siegel, review in Groundwater, v. 55, no. 6

"An excellent objective explanation of the history, science, technology, politics, environmental concerns, and economics of the shale gas boom. The author clearly has great practical experience of the science and technology of shale gas development and shows a deep understanding of the environmental and economic issues." --Andrew Stone, Executive Director, American Ground Water Trust

New technology has opened vast reserves of "unconventional" natural gas and oil from shales like the Marcellus in the Appalachian Basin, making the United States essentially energy independent for the first time in decades. Shale gas had its origins in the oil embargos and energy crises of the 1970s, which led to government research to increase domestic energy supplies. The first large-scale shale gas production was successful on the Barnett Shale in Texas in the late 1990s, followed a few years later by the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Shale gas has changed thinking about fossil energy supplies worldwide, but the development of these resources has been controversial. Activists have made claims that hydraulic fracturing may contribute to climate change, threaten groundwater resources, and pose risks to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and human health. This volume explores the geology, history, technology, and potential environmental impacts of Marcellus Shale gas resources.

About the Author: Soeder performed scientific research on gas shale and other unconventional fossil energy resources at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, from 2009 to 2017. He came to DOE with 18 years of experience as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, where his work included assessing the water resource impacts of shale gas development. Prior to that, he spent a decade performing production research on tight sandstone and shale at the Gas Technology Institute in Chicago, and he worked as a DOE contractor for two years on the Eastern Gas Shales Project, recovering and characterizing drill core.

[ Table of Contents ]

Published: 3/09/2017

ISBN Number: 978-0-8137-2527-7

Pages: 143

Product Category: Special Papers