The shale gas revolution, which began nearly 10 years ago in the United States, is poised to spread across the globe. For many countries, shale gas could strengthen energy security while cutting emissions.

但是，释放这种大量资源会带来很大的环境风险：饮酒，农业和工业用途的淡水。钻孔，然后将每个页岩气井的液压压裂在短时间内使用大量的水，介于700万升和2500万升之间（120万升和660万加仑）。

本周，WRI发行了Global Shale Development: Water Availability & and Business Risk,提出黄旗的首个报告：一系列与水相关的挑战可能会限制六大大洲的页岩资源开发。三个国家有助于讲述复杂的故事：中国，阿根廷和英国。

China: Shale Rich, Water Stressed

China is already the world’s largest energy producer and consumer. It has the world’s largest technically recoverable shale gas resources, but those resources are located in areas of highest water stress. Over 60 percent of Chinese shale resources are in areas of high to extremely high baseline water stress or arid conditions. The government and energy companies are already grappling with the issue. Last week, China’s two largest energy companies upgraded their forecasts for shale investments, even as the Chinese government halved its shale gas production targets earlier last month. As the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, the country’s shale resources could be a key to addressing climate change, but its water concerns must be addressed.

阿根廷：页岩丰富，压力较小

Argentina is South America’s largest natural gas producer and consumer, and possesses the world’s second-largest technically recoverable shale gas resources. With low to medium stress over 72 percent of its shale resources, competition for water is less concerning to Argentinian plays overall. However, 28 percent of the resources are in arid areas, so the country will not entirely escape water-related constraints if shale development progresses. A partnership with Chevron helped more than triple production in a shale basin called the Neuquén from last year to this year.

英国：很复杂

英国是欧洲第三大天然气生产商。工业用水占全国总水需求的30％以上，但是随着天然气和石油生产的下降，这些撤离在过去的10年中一直在缩小。但是，政府现在正在提供税收减免以提高页岩发展的开发，如果页岩钻孔和液压压裂扩大，则需要管理与水有关的风险。工业和国内对水的高度需求将英国页岩资源的34％推向了很高的水压力，使公众关注和围绕液压破裂的冲突更大。7月，两个科学团体的报告引用了对液压压裂安全性的广泛关注，因此紧张已经出现。

全球和地方意义

This water-shale energy trade off poses significant social, environmental and financial challenges. And over time, competition for water as well as public concerns over hydraulic fracturing will likely increase as shale development expands internationally and global temperature and precipitation patterns shift.

每个考虑页岩开发的国家都将共同关注获得淡水的关注点，但是重要的是要考虑使每个人都独一无二的本地因素。全球页岩开发还评估了其他8个国家 /地区的页岩发挥的水量，要么开发页岩资源，要么最有可能在未来开发它们：阿尔及利亚，澳大利亚，加拿大，墨西哥，波兰，沙特阿拉伯，南非，南非和美国。

What Can Companies and Governments Do?

在大多数国家，页岩资源开发仍然是新生的，这使得这是采取行动的理想时机。全球页岩发展共享四个建议，以帮助政府，公司和其他团体保护水安全，同时促进能源安全：

  • 在决定开发页岩作用之前，请评估您的水风险，以了解当地的水利用率并降低风险。

  • 披露所有与水有关的信息，并与当地监管机构，社区和行业合作，以在所有相关团体之间建立信任，同时减少监管不确定性和声誉风险。

  • 让企业参与公共水政策流程，共同努力保护重要的供水源，并制定水管理计划，以帮助保护其他用户的稳定供水。

  • 建立一个业务案例，以最大程度地减少淡水使用，并从事企业水管理，以减少对水的影响。可以使用广泛的工具来最大程度地减少用水，包括制定水策略并遵循水管理指南。

要开始评估您所在国家或投资组合中页岩作用的水风险，请联系渡槽team。

LEARN MORE:查看我们的页岩气资源页面。