ANALYSIS
in complicated legal procedures and environmental
concerns. The fact that much of their shale gas deposits lay beneath densely populated areas is also
not helping. France on the other hand, confirmed its
ban on shale gas exploitation this October.
While cheaper gas would be great, leaders on the
European continent are concerned that the environmental impacts and potential for public backlash
do not currently outweigh the potential benefits of
shale gas extraction. The European Union’s ten-year
growth strategy, Europe 2020, focuses on supporting innovation in energy-intensive industries as part
of creating a resource efficient economy. There is no
mention of the need to exploit latent energy sources
on the continent as a top economic growth priority.
Instead, the European Parliament recently moved to
require that environmental impact studies be performed before any test drilling for shale gas begins.
In response, the International Association of Oil &
Gas Producers’ stated that the new requirement,
“would require undertaking long and complex environmental studies at a very early stage in the exploration phase, undermining - without bringing additional environmental benefits - the efforts to develop domestic oil and gas opportunities, such as gas
from shale.” 2 The initial reluctance of Europe’s leading economies to embrace and exploit shale gas has
led many observers to conclude that Europe is highly
unlikely to replicate the U.S. model in this area.
For now, Russia does not seem very interested in
exploring its vast quantities of shale gas in addition
to its already profitable oil industry. It is yet unclear
whether China will shift some of its investment in
coal-fired plants toward shale gas exploration and
exploitation. Some observers say Chinese shale gas
could give a second wind to that country’s industrial revolution, adding cheaper energy to the already cheap labor. At a
minimum, increased natural gas usage would likely improve China’s notoriously poor urban air quality and
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