Shale fuels: The solution to the energy conundrum?

Abstract

Technological progress has enabled the extraction of hydrocarbons trapped amid shales, resources unexplored until a few years ago. High energy prices, abundant reserves, a firm-friendly business environment and a de facto moratorium of environmental rules boosted the adoption of hydraulic fracturing in the US, causing a sea-change in the energy landscape within a few years. Nonetheless, the economic benefits accruing from shale fuel production must be weighed against their higher extraction, logistic and environmental costs. Moreover, the possibility of replicating the US experience on the same scale elsewhere is limited by technical and social hurdles and stricter environmental regulation.