The Global Warming Policy Foundation has published (May 2011) a detailed report about the shale gas revolution and its likely implications for climate policy.

The report , written by Matt Ridley and with a foreword by Professor Freeman Dyson, finds that shale gas:

• is not only abundant but relatively cheap and therefore promises to take market share from nuclear, coal and renewable energy and to replace oil in some transport and industrial uses, over coming decades.
• will help to keep the price of nitrogen fertiliser low and hence keep food prices down, other things being equal.
• is unlikely to be a major source of pollution or methane emissions, but in contrast promises to reduce pollution and accelerate the decarbonisation of the world economy.

To read the full report see:

http://thegwpf.org/images/stories/gwpf-reports/Shale-Gas_4_May_11.pdf [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Naturally, after causing a boom in demand for gas, and promoting it, greens are now trying to prevent exploration and exploitation of this massive new energy source. And just as naturally they are being supported by competitive energy sources threatened by this gas bonanza – French nuclear, Russian gas, the coal geo-sequestration crowd and the whole wind/solar lobby.

Some of these shales will also produce significant oil. Nick Grealy looks here at the coming impact of oil and gas from “Wet Shale”:

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/7415/Shale-Gas-LNG–the-Coming-Impact-of-Wet-Shale