Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION

An expanding footprint

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Energy

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The shale gas revolution has led to a boom in construction of shale oil and gas wells in recent years. New research offers a more accurate accounting of its growing land-use footprint.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: The production of electricity from natural-gas uses land from the wells where it is produced through to the power plants where it is converted to electricity.

References

  1. US Natural Gas Number of Gas and Gas Condensate Wells (EIA, Washington, DC, 2017).

  2. Balthrop, A. T. & Hawley, Z. Energy Econ. 61, 351–362 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Muehlenbachs, L., Spiller, E. & Timmins, C. Am. Econ. Rev. 105, 3633–3659 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brittingham, M. C., Maloney, K. O., Farag, A. M., Harper, D. D. & Bowen, Z. H. Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 11034–11047 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jordaan, S. M. et al. Nat. Energy. doi:10.1007/s41560-017-0004-0 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Annual Energy Outlook 2017 (EIA, Washington, DC, 2017).

  7. Lawler, J. J., Ruesch, A. S., Olden, J. D. & McRae, B. H. Ecol. Lett. 16, 1014–1022 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Milt, A. W., Gagnolet, T. & Armsworth, P. R. Environ. Manag. 57, 21–30 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Olmstead, S. M., Muehlenbachs, L. A., Shih, J. S., Chu, Z. & Krupnick, A. J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 4962–4967 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. McDonald, R. I., Fargione, J., Kiesecker, J., Miller, W. M. & Powell, J. PLoS One 4, e6802 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Fthenakis, V. & Kim, H. C. Renew. Sust. Energy Rev. 13, 1465–1474 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ong, S., Campbell, C., Denholm, P., Margolis, R. & Heath, G. Land-Use Requirements for Solar Power Plants in the United States (National Renewable Energy Lab, Colorado, 2013).

  13. Denholm, P., Hand, M., Jackson, M. & Ong, S. Land-Use Requirements of Modern Wind Plants in the United States (National Renewable Energy Lab, Colorado, 2009).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Fargione.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fargione, J. An expanding footprint. Nat Energy 2, 770–771 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0010-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0010-2

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation