shale gas - strategic game changer for india

what is shale gas?

shale is the common name for rock that once was a layer of clay or mud ,due to geological circumstances these layers were compressed into a fine grained sedimentary rocks, the gas which is trapped in the rock formation is called shale gas in terms of its chemical make up shale gas is  a dry gas primarily composed of methane

why its a game chnager for india

 So far India’s relentless efforts during the last 25 years to build pipelines to bring gas from Turkmenistan, Iran, Qatar, Bangladesh and Myanmar have remained pipe dreams. Renewable energy sources like ethanol and bio diesel, wind and solar are high on the national agenda, As recently as three years back conventional wisdom was that US will have a huge gas deficit and it has to import increasing quantity of LNG. In less than two years,  the US supply has changed from one of deficit to surplus. The sudden and unexpected development of shale gas has been a game changer  In India, shale deposits are found across the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and costal region according to preliminary estimates india's shale gas reserve may be larger then conventional gas reserves

challenges

availability of water and  environmental issues

shale gas operation would require large quantities of water for hydraulic fracturing process unavailability of water sources for the awarded block could pose logistic issues and put up additional cost 2    land acquisition would be a challenge. Land is the most precious resource in India now. Unlike conventional oil exploration, shale gas exploration is continuously mobile and moves from one spot to another, requiring more land for exploration.

Besides, there is the fear that the pursuit for shale gas would cause irrevocable damage to the environment as it involves pumping chemicals into rocks with water. It is not going to be as easy as it is in the US