Let's Be Smart About Shale Gas
Pennsylvania should look long-term and slow the boom to avoid the
bust
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
11 November 2010
By Mark Olsthoorn
Marcellus Shale gas can be a boon to Pennsylvania, the catalyst of a
clean, sustainable energy sector that creates lasting employment,
provided the state doesn't buy into the boom-town mentality. A period
of controlled growth would allow for informed debate on shale gas' role
in Pennsylvania's energy future and, in the long run, would profit the
state economically.
Unfortunately, the industry is in a hurry to extract this precious
resource from the Marcellus Shale, prompting deep public concerns about
the effects of its production on fresh water sources and human health.
The debate has turned loud, extreme and unproductive. Facts and fiction
have blurred.
When the shale gas industry convened recently in the former Pittsburgh
Hilton, "drill-baby-drill" could be heard between the lines. "Wow" is
how conference president Jack Lafield characterized Marcellus
prospects. Speakers representing oil and gas companies that operate in
Pennsylvania outbid each other with projections of high, higher,
highest production rates for the region over the next decade.
The optimism was contagious. The curves only went up. "There's gas for
another 100 to 120 years," said Martin Fritz of EQT Midstream. "We
should do a better job at selling it."
Unchecked, this gold-rush approach risks quickly exhausting and wasting
a valuable, irreplaceable resource.
Natural gas is the cleanest of fossil fuels, causing much less air
pollution and only half as much CO2 emissions as coal when burned in a
power plant. It's domestically available and can enable a clean,
sustainable energy sector. Gas can be stored, and is versatile. It's
too good to waste.
But judging by public comments, how the Marcellus gas is going to be
used seems of little concern to the industry. Further, it denounces
other, much-needed initiatives, such as wind and energy efficiency, as
if they have little role to play in securing America's energy future or
improving America's environment.
A more integrative perspective on the place of Marcellus gas in a
sustainable energy sector is essential.
Gas can provide backup capacity for wind farms when the wind isn't
blowing. Gas can generate cleaner electricity to propel electric cars
and provide feedstock for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Gradually
replacing coal-fired power plants with more decentralized gas-fired,
combined heat-and-power plants would cut CO2 emissions dramatically and
enable super efficient local heating networks in urban areas.
The point is that Marcellus gas can be a crucial enabler of sustainable
innovations. At present, though, the industry risks flooding the
market, keeping prices unsustainably low and frustrating the
development of other clean energy sources. Pennsylvania won't see the
full promise of Marcellus Shale gas unless it is embedded in a
long-term energy strategy for the region.
The gas industry is currently hyping the jobs that shale gas will
bring, but they probably won't last long, nor go to many
Pennsylvanians. A full-throttle ramp up is so quick that experienced
employees have to be brought in from out-of-state. Currently, 75
percent of workers on drilling rigs in Pennsylvania are experienced
professionals from Oklahoma and Texas.
By the time the regional economy generates a skilled workforce and
specialized services and suppliers, production will be near, at or
beyond its peak. And soon the gas will be gone, sold for low prices to
fuel inefficient cars and heat badly insulated buildings. A more
gradual and better-guided development of Marcellus Shale gas would
allow a local energy sector and workforce to arise with better chances
of long-term employment and economic benefits.
Pennsylvania regulators are not equipped to deal with the explosion of
permit applications, and companies are complaining that long processing
times are slowing Marcellus development. But maybe it's fortunate that
regulators are understaffed, as this might buy the commonwealth some
time.
If states in the Marcellus Shale region want to get the maximum return
from their natural capital, in terms of long-term employment and
revenue, they would do well to make shale gas production part of an
integrated strategy for a sustainable energy sector and economy. They
also would do well, while the industry is still learning fast, to let
best practices for environmental protection, workforce training and
corporate citizenship mature before the boom has come and gone.
Mark Olsthoorn is a researcher at the University of Maryland's Center
for Integrative Environmental Research (http://www.cier.umd.edu).