Dr.

Sanjoy Banerjee
Director, CUNY Energy Institute
banerjee@che.ccny.cuny.edu
April 8, 2011
 Natural gas supplies
22% of US energy
demand and 40% of
electricity
production
 US has 1744 tcf
recoverable natural
gas, enough for 100
years
 Lower 48 states
have gas reserves in
clay-like rock
formations
 Horizontal drilling allows 1 well-
pad to access the same reservoir
volume as 16 vertical wells
 Hydro fracking involves
pumping of high pressure liquid
into shale to generate cracks in
the rock formation and release
natural gas
 Fracking liquids contain sand,
water, and unknown chemicals
 Cement and casing are installed
to protect groundwater supplies
 Natural gas in the
Marcellus Shale
provides opportunity
for huge economic
development
 Lack of appropriate
safeguards and
regulation led to
environmental
damage and erosion
of public trust
 Research is needed
to develop risk-
balanced regulations
 Fracking liquids are reported to
be 98% water and sand, but
their composition is unregulated
and unknown to the public
 Up to 65-80% of fracking liquids
are not recovered from drilling
operations and are unaccounted
for in current simulations
 Ability of cement and casings to
prevent seepage is unknown
 It is unknown whether fracking
liquids contaminate
groundwater supplies decades
after wells are abandoned
 There is currently no model that aggregates gas emissions from multiple
sites, and companies are not required to report the totals
 NOx and SO2 and organic content of natural gas varies by location,
creating different air quality management needs.
 The composition of
waste water is currently
unknown, which makes
treatment difficult
 Waste water
contamination by organic
compounds and
radioactive materials is
neither tracked nor
regulated
 Above-ground methods
for water storage must
be tested to prevent
runoff and leaking
 Small-scale sampling at multiple drill sites to
learn specific geology and improve simulations
 Advanced computer simulations of waste water
and fracking liquid motion over time
 Assessment of total airborne emissions
 Materials testing of cement, casing, fracking
liquids, and recovered waste water
 Analysis and development of fracking liquids
that can be easily and economically treated
 Risk assessment research will help
guide future regulations and
appropriate severance taxes for the
shale gas industry.