China has High Hopes for Shale Gas: The Thorny Road of Honor（1）

On June 27th, 5 shares of  shale gas  reached their daily limits at Shanghai Composite Index, the largest stock market in China, lifting the whole Oil & Gas sector above the otherwise decreasing Chinese stock market. This was stimulated by a signal from the nation’s Ministry of Land and Resources: the second round of shale gas exploration rights is expected to open for bidding in September, and this time it will be open to private investors.
Shale gas, which is natural gas found in hydrocarbon rich shale formations, is one of the most important  Unconventional gas  sources  and represents a rapidly expanding trend in onshore gas exploration and production today. The deposits are mainly extracted through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Though it is not an ideal alternative to conventional energy sources, shale gas can be a key to energy independence and a lower carbon footprint, since it produces 43 percent and 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than coal and oil per thermal unit produced, respectively. However, not everything about shale gas is an improvement, as its extraction process may contaminate ground water and release volatile compounds into the soil, while the use of shale gas will still lead to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main mining techniques used for extraction, horizontal drilling and  hydraulic fracturing ，  have been linked to various problems like water shortages, groundwater contamination, methane gas seeps, micro-earthquakes and coal fires. Sample surveys show that methane concentrations were 17-times higher on average (19.2 mg/L) in shallow wells located in active drilling and extraction areas than in wells located in non-active areas (1.1 mg/L on average). In addition, there are studies showing properties with shale gas wells were valued down due to the fracturing.
shale gas, despite its drawbacks, remains undeniably attractive to China. Last year, as the largest energy consumer in the world, China had a remarkable dependence on foreign oil of 55.2 percent. About 90 percent of its energy consumption overall depended on coal and crude oil. Due to this heavy reliance on traditional fuels  and a rapidly growing energy demand brought on by incredible economic growth, China is suffering from severe environmental deteriorations including but not limited to water contamination, air and soil pollution, increasing GHG emissions and worsening biodiversity.