The Gas Dilemma | Assignment

Running head: THE GAS DILEMMA
THE GAS DILEMMA
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THE GAS DILEMMA
1
Response to Question 1: Positive and negative attributes of the shale gas
Shale gas is considered to be a form of fossil energy resource, which encircles every
negative effect under fossil fuel but it portrays various opportunities for a newer form of
energy resource. Although the attributes of shale gas have reflected various negative impacts,
researches have also identified various positive influences over the contexts of resource
utilization and reflecting environmental impact. The positive attributes include, shale gas
helps in reducing the dependency of energy usage as shale gas can be replaced in place of
coal. Coal can be more dangerous with respect to contamination in comparison to the shale
gas. Shale gas posses the attribute of balancing the prices of the oil. The prices of oil are
anticipated to drop with the replacement of shale gas in place of coal in various countries
with the infrastructure of shale reserves. The United States started generating shale gas,
which significantly reflected in their overall costs. Shale gas has the capability of breaking
monopoly within the exporting countries dealing with oil (Evensen & Stedman, 2017). Shale
gas contributes to the economic indicator by generating employment opportunities. China and
the United States are considered to be major exporting nations of the world with the
maximum potential of utilizing its worth. On the other hand, shale gas has the potential of
influencing or elevating global warming as well as other natural disasters like an earthquake
(Livy et al., 2018). The production costs for shale gas is very high, which may question the
alignment of cost to profit ratio. Although, it is believed and witnessed the reduction of the
overall cost of energy dependency and utilization shale gas production involves a high cost at
an initial stage, which can result in the challenges of setting the energy production. Shale gas
can also pollute water bodies (Livy et al., 2018).
Response to Question 2: Regulation of Fracking
One of the most evident areas of debate and issue has been Fracking between the
participants such as Environmental Protection Agencies, the general public, and government.