Despite the potential of shale gas to help Europe’s transition to a low carbon economy, our understanding of its environmental impact if developed in Europe is relatively limited, in part due to a lack of data. The M4ShaleGas project has helped fill this knowledge gap.
Over the last ten years the United States energy landscape has been altered dramatically by the inclusion of shale gas into the mix of energy resources. However, this has not been the case across Europe. For both political and technical reasons, some countries have implemented a (temporary) moratorium (e.g. the Netherlands); some have lowered expectations of commercial production (e.g. Poland); while others are pursuing development in the face of pronounced local resistance (e.g. England).
Further details: Measuring, monitoring, mitigating and managing shale gas operations