Alternative Energy Development Impact Analysis To Water System Surrounding The Gas Reservoir

Shale gas, extracted from shale formation, is a clean and high-efficiency energy, which can mitigate energy crisis and improve national energy security. To date, the United States has realized large-scale commercial development in shale industry and aroused interest to exploit shale gas around the world. However, the environmental issues has become an obstacle that constrains the development of shale industry. Studying water system problems through the method of quantitative research that are associated with shale gas extraction plays an important role in the development of shale industry, especially for potential developers like China. The study aims at understanding the adverse impacts to water environment objectively so as to facilitate countries that are willing to extract shale gas well prepared for controlling water issues, taken Pennsylvania as case study. Regarding shortage of water resource during shale gas extraction, this paper adopted fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), a method combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, to assess water use efficiency of shale industry in PA by building evaluation matrix that was constitute of social, economic and ecological factors. The result turned out that water shortage degree, water consumption, discharge standard-meeting rate and water volume condition are major factors impacting water use efficiency, sum up, ecological and economic elements attribut to water use efficiency during shale gas extraction. Then the study chose methane and radium as indicating pollutants to simulate content distribution in PA through geo-statistical using Arcgis which can vividly exhibit the distribution of potential pollutants. The result indicated that the average content of methane and Ra226 were increasing in time, and methane content exceeded dangerous-threshold except in 2009 and 2010. Throughout the study period, Ra226 and Ra228 were exceeded drinking water criterion and had intensified as time goes by. In terms of the interpolation map, high content of methane and Ra were located in Allegheny、Lycoming、Bradford and Indiana shale block representing a zonal distribution from southwest to northeast and they gradually spread to southeast and northwest. The correlation analysis depicted that there was a weak correlation between Ra226 and Ra228 and a strong correlation between methane contend and shale gas production in PA.