EUStudies question shale gas benefits

Published Sep 10, 2012

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Shale gas production will not make the EU self-sufficient in natural gas, according to a study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. “The best case scenario for shale gas development in Europe is one in which declining conventional production can be replaced and import dependence maintained at a level around 60 percent,” the centre said in the report published on Friday. The EU is analysing the adequacy of its legislation on unconventional fossil fuels as companies have started drilling exploration wells in Poland, the UK and Germany. A separate study concluded that extracting shale gas imposed a larger environmental footprint than conventional gas development. A third study showed that shale gas produced in the EU would release more greenhouse gases than conventional natural gas. – Bloomberg

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