Exploratory drilling is under way as engineers try to determine how much shale gas is present and how easy it will be to retrieve. But the drilling is raising environmental concerns. In Europe gas companies are probing the ground for natural gas found in shale deposits. Shale gas production accounted for 14 percent of U.S. natural gas production in 2009 and is expected to reach 45 percent by 2035. However according to the article it is far too early to know how much extraction will be possible in Europe. Hurdles in Europe, include technical issues like the size, depth and clay content of European shale fields; environmental regulations, which are generally tighter than in the United States; and the Continent’s higher population density. This article is very interesting and if Europe can in doubtlessly find a way to extract the natural gas then this could huge implications for the United States and our dependency on the trade of foreign natural gas. The problem with the drilling however is that it could cause leaks into natural aquifers which then could lead to the damaging of people’s water supplies and could destroy ecosystems in the areas around the drilling.
Environmental Geography 