What is the composition of shale gas?
Shale gas is natural gas trapped within tiny pore spaces in shale formations. It is a hydrocarbon gas mixture. It consists mainly of methane. Other hydrocarbons are natural gas liquids (NGLs) like ethane, propane, and butane, and it also contains carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide.
Does the UK produce shale gas?
Where is shale gas found in the UK? In the UK, four areas have been identified as potentially viable for the commercial extraction of shale gas: the Carboniferous Bowland–Hodder area in north-west England (Lancashire and the Midlands) the Carboniferous Midland Valley in Scotland.
How much gas is thought to exist across the Bowland shale in the UK?
The Carboniferous shale basins of North of England and Scotland, which include the Bowland Basin, were estimated to have 25 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas.
Where is shale gas used in the UK?
Four areas in the UK have been identified as potentially viable for the commercial extraction of shale gas: the Bowland-Hodder area in Northwest England, the Midland Valley in Scotland, the Weald Basin in Southern England, and the Wessex area in Southern England.
Is the UK still fracking?
The UK government imposed a moratorium on fracking in England in 2019. Scotland and Wales have moratoria in place against hydraulic fracturing. The last advice was provided in 2016 and, since then, fracking has effectively been banned and the UK has altered its Climate Change Act.
Is there any fracking in the UK?
Currently the only active fracking site in the UK, operated by the energy firm Cuadrilla, is near Blackpool in Lancashire.
Is shale gas renewable or nonrenewable?
Shale gas is a fossil fuel, a unique type of non-renewable resource.
What is C1 in gas composition?
Methane (C1) is almost always the dominant component of the natural gas mixtures. Usually accompanying C1 are other hydrocarbon gases, including ethane (C2), propane (C3), isobutane (i-C4), and normal butane (n C4), that are present in variable amounts from traces to 30-40 percent collectively.
Where is shale gas found in the UK?
Other areas of interest include County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and the much older Lower Palaeozoic rocks in Wales and central England. Estimates suggest that the amount of shale gas (regardless of the feasibility of extraction) lies between 2.8 and 39.9 trillion cubic metres (tcm).
How much gas is in the Weald Basin?
The higher figure is based on 3D geological modelling by the British Geological Survey (BGS), which estimates around 37.6 tcm in the Bowland Shale, 2.3 tcm in the Midland Valley, and no shale gas in the Weald Basin.
How ‘proven’ are UK gas reserves?
So-called ‘proven reserves’ – the volume of gas that can be technically recovered and that is also economically and legally viable – have yet to be estimated for the UK.
What is the latest on fracking consents in the UK?
In November 2019, the UK Government announced that it would take a presumption against issuing any further consents for fracking in England.