Related Papers
Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis
Unconventional Gas Development in the USA: Exploring the Risk Perception Issues
2015 •
John Graham
Unconventional gas development (UGD) is growing rapidly in the United States. Drawing on insights from risk perception and risk governance theories and recent public opinion surveys, we find that UGD is an emerging technology that is likely to be perceived as risky, even though objective risk assessments suggest that risks are low and controllable through best risk management practices. Perceived risk varies significantly depending on the state and locality but perceptions of risk appear to be increasing as the technology is used more widely in the United States and as organized opponents of the technology intensify their efforts. Risk perceptions are attenuated somewhat because of the perceived benefits of UGD and compensation schemes for individuals and communities. The types of triggering events necessary for large-scale social amplification and stigmatization have not yet occurred but awareness of UGD is growing and organized opposition has been sufficient to cause prohibitions ...
Ethical Perspectives
Justice and the Distribution of Risks from Unconventional Energy Technologies
2018 •
Aviezer Tucker
An application of the theories about risk distribution of Beck and risk assessments of Luhmann and Giddens, and Schmidtz’ theory of justice as the internalization of externalities to understand the social and political reactions to new “unconventional” technologies for extracting natural gas and oil from shale rock discovered correlations between injustice in the distribution of risks and rewards and risk assessment and trust, reinforced by a feedback causal loop where high assessment of risk and distrust reinforce each other. The unaccountability of technocratic and political elites increased distrust and generated a feedback causal loop that increased the unaccountability of elite decision making, when elites adjusted to popular distrust by attempting to make decisions about the distribution of risk from new technologies in stealth or when the population was distracted. Geopolitical risk may balance technological risk assessment when assuming technological risks reduces geopolitical risks. The article applies this model to explain the politics and policies of unconventional energy in Europe. It further supports the model by a comparison with regulatory policies for the extraction of unconventional energy resources in the United States and by examining a case in England where the government attempted to decrease injustice in the distribution of risk.
Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology
The pertinence of Sutton's law to exposure science: Lessons from unconventional shale gas drilling
2018 •
Bernard Goldstein
Sutton's Law urges the medical practitioner to utilize the test that goes directly to the problem. When applied to exposure science, Sutton's Law would argue that the major emphasis should be on techniques that directly measure exposure in or close to the human, animal or ecosystem receptors of concern. Exposure science largely and appropriately violates Sutton's Law by estimating exposure based on information on emissions or measurements obtained at a distance from the receptors of concern. I suggest four criteria to help determine whether Sutton's law should be violated for an innovative technology, and explore these criteria in relation to potential human exposure resulting from unconventional gas drilling (UGD): (1) The technological processes possibly leading to release of the chemical or physical agents of concern are reasonably understood; (2) the agents of concern are known; (3) the source and geographical location of the releases can be reasonably identified...
Enhancing the Energy Security and Governance of Shale Gas
Benjamin Sovacool, Vlado Vivoda
Many assessments of the promise and pitfalls to shale gas development are incomplete. They tend to focus primarily on the benefits for electricity generation and gas producers, and therefore only address in a limited way the impact shale gas has on wider issues such as energy security and stewardship. We expand on the existing literature by considering a broad treatment of the energy security needs of the United States and other countries. We find that with the proper safeguards in place—public disclosure, sound water management, continuous evaluation and stakeholder engagement, selectivity in drilling sites, active minimization of negative externalities, and international performance standards—shale gas production can potentially do more help more than harm.
SSRN Electronic Journal
A Comparison between Shale Gas in China and Unconventional Fuel Development in the United States: Health, Water and Environmental Risks
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Debating Unconventional Energy: Social, Political, and Economic Implications
Stefan Andreasson
The extraction of unconventional oil and gas—from shale rocks, tight sand, and coalbed formations—is shifting the geographies of fossil fuel production, with complex consequences. Following Jackson et al.’s ( 1 ) natural science survey of the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, this review examines social science literature on unconventional energy. After an overview of the rise of unconventional energy, the review examines energy economics and geopolitics, community mobilization, and state and private regulatory responses. Unconventional energy requires different frames of analysis than conventional energy because of three characteristics: increased drilling density, low-carbon and “clean” energy narratives of natural gas, and distinct ownership and royalty structures. This review points to the need for an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the resulting dynamic, multilevel web of relationships that implicates land, water, food, and climate. Furthermore, the re...
Shale gas extraction: issues of particular relevance to the European Union. EASAC Report, 2014 11 12
Dietrich Borchardt
EASAC member academies have already completed reviews on the risk from shale gas extraction and their management.
Information Collection, Access, and Dissemination to Support Evidence-Based Shale Gas Policies
Shanti Gamper-Rabindran
To ensure that unconventional shale gas development (UGD) yields net social benefits, we need to identify the magnitude and distribution of its benefits and costs and develop effective technological, management, and regulatory strategies to minimize potential adverse effects. A major obstacle to achieve these goals is the gaps in the collection, access, and dissemination of information. This paper focuses on information gaps to assess a narrow subset of the potential links between UGD and well-water contamination, drawing particularly from the experience in Pennsylvania. It suggests strategies for legislators, regulators, industry, and researchers to address these information gaps, while protecting legitimate privacy concerns. The benefits from an improved understanding of the impact of this industry and resulting innovations to mitigate its impacts justifies the cost of data collection, access, and dissemination.
Science of The Total Environment
Considerations for the development of shale gas in the United Kingdom
2015 •
Madelon Finkel, Jake Hays
Coal Seam Gas: An Annotated Bibliography
Dr. Madeline Taylor
This Annotated Bibliography comprises a comprehensive identification and analysis of publications globally related to all aspects of the regulation, policy and development of coal seam gas. In particular it identifies resources relating to the regulation and/or management of the following aspects of CSG activities, including: water management (ground water and surface water); well design and construction and abandonment; hydraulic fracturing (including fracture-induced seismicity); use of chemicals down hole; social and environmental issues; including food security; and disclosure of chemicals. In many instances these aspects are also closely aligned to the development of shale gas. Where such literature addresses shale gas activities, the publication has been included in this bibliography.
