Scenarios for shale gas development and their related land use impacts in the Baltic Basin, Northern Poland

Abstract

A range of scenarios for shale gas development in Poland were modelled. The impact in terms of land take and competition for land was assessed. Of land used for industrial purposes, 7-12% was attributed to shale gas extraction. If unregulated, 24% of well pads were developed within protected areas. The legislative framework can have a major influence on overall environmental impact. a b s t r a c t Scenarios for potential shale gas development were modelled for the Baltic Basin in Northern Poland for the period 2015-2030 using the land allocation model EUCS100. The main aims were to assess the associated land use requirements, conflicts with existing land use, and the influence of legislation on the environmental impact. The factors involved in estimating the suitability for placement of shale gas well pads were analysed, as well as the potential land and water requirements to define 2 technology-based scenarios, representing the highest and lowest potential environmental impact. 2 different legislative frameworks (current and restrictive) were also assessed, to give 4 combined scenarios altogether. Land consumption and allocation patterns of well pads varied substantially according to the modelled scenario. Potential landscape fragmentation and conflicts with other land users depended mainly on development rate, well pad density, existing land-use patterns, and geology. Highly complex landscapes presented numerous barriers to drilling activities, restricting the potential development patterns. The land used for shale gas development could represent a significant percentage of overall land take within the shale play. The adoption of appropriate legislation, especially the protection of natural areas and water resources, is therefore essential to minimise the related environmental impact.

Linear infrastructure drives habitat conversion and forest fragmentation associated with Marcellus shale gas development in a forested landscape

“…Development should be avoided in areas remote from 495 pipelines and in areas with extensive core forest. Other ways to reduce fragmentation have been 496 demonstrated by limiting well density on the landscape either by increasing the number of wells 497 per pad (Johnson et al 2010, Jantz et al 2014,Baranzelli et al 2015) or increasing the length of measured all gas infrastructure for the first 3 time periods of our study, but pad and pipeline construction was estimated for only the final year (2016) using DEP gas production data. 505Furthermore, we assumed a minimum of pipeline construction by ensuring gas operators shared 506 pipeline infrastructure and new pipeline construction utilized the shortest possible distance to 507 connect well pads with existing pipelines.…”

Multipurpose Usage of Magnetic Proppantsduring Shale Gas Exploitation

“…The most important issues are risk of soil and water pollution and huge water consumption [10,11]. Shale gas exploitation is process, transferring natural environment into heavy industrial zone [12][13][14][15][16]. Because of that, research on alternative method for hydraulic fracturing are developed [16][17][18].…”

Sustainability lessons from shale development in the United States for Mexico and other emerging unconventional oil and gas developers

“…The total infrastructure requirements are a function of the number of well pads and the size of the overall development; thus, the total impact is determined by the total number of well pads in a play [30]. In addition to direct impacts related to land clearance, there might also be indirect effects on ecosystems near the affected area due to the "edge effect" [31].…”