Ensuring benefits from North American shale gas development: Towards a research agenda

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juogr.2014.01.003Get rights and content

Highlights

  • A long-term research effort is needed to ensure benefits of shale gas development.

  • Stakeholders need support to make good decisions in today’s natural gas sector.

  • The shale gas “revolution” provides tremendous opportunities if done right.

Abstract

The North American shale gas “revolution” provides tremendous opportunities, but our scientific understanding of this transition and its potential near- and long-term social, economic, and environmental impacts lags behind the rapid pace of change. Investors, policy makers, and other stakeholders need greater clarity to make robust decisions in today’s dynamic natural gas sector. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary research agenda can help inform these decisions.

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of participants at the JISEA/PIE workshop: Natural gas and the transformation of the U.S. energy sector: A program studying multi-sector opportunities and impacts.

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