India is purportedly endowed with significant reserves of shale oil and gas, a potential resource capable of sustaining the nation’s energy demands for a quarter-century. Despite this promising outlook, the active exploitation of these resources seems conspicuously absent from the national agenda. This situation prompts a critical examination of both the availability and the array of issues that hinder their development. On one hand, the abundance of shale oil and gas presents a tantalizing prospect for reducing India’s dependency on traditional fossil fuels and bolstering its energy security. However, the path to realizing this potential is fraught with challenges. Technical hurdles, including the need for advanced extraction techniques and substantial investment in infrastructure, loom large. Moreover, environmental concerns, such as water scarcity and the risk of groundwater contamination associated with hydraulic fracturing, pose significant regulatory and societal challenges. Additionally, the economics of shale extraction in India may not be as straightforward as in other regions, further complicating efforts to harness these resources. Hence, while the promise of shale oil and gas is undeniable, its realization demands a nuanced evaluation of its feasibility, sustainability, and alignment with broader national interests.
Tags: Distribution of key natural resources.
Decoding the Question;
- In Introduction, try to define shale gas.
- In Body, mention the major challenges to tap the potential of shale gas in India.
- Conclude your answer by suggesting measures to use the resources available to meet the demands in the energy sector.
Answer:
India is the third largest consumer of energy in the world after China and the USA but most of this energy demand is met through imports. These high imports dent the fiscal stability and adversely affect the energy security of the country. Unconventional gas sources may come to the rescue to address these issues. One of the unconventional gas sources is known as the shale oil and gas, these are basically the fine grained sedimentary rocks formed of organic mud in the river basins or near the bottom of the old seas. Unconventional gas sources are the ones that their production needs greater effort than the other similar resources. They also require specialized technology, depending on the nature of their presence.
The following sources of gas have been categorized as unconventional ones:
- Coal bed methane (CBM)
- Coal mine methane (CMM)
- Shale oil and gas
- Tight gas
Availability of the Shale Oil and Gas Resources in India:
The Government of India has carried out studies through various national and international agencies for the identification of shale oil and gas resources in the country. Based on the data available from conventional oil/gas exploration in the country for the last so many years, the country holds promising reserves of Shale Gas & Oil resources, and the following sedimentary basins are considered prospective from Shale oil and gas point of view:
- Cambay Basin
- Gondwana Basin
- KG Basin
- Cauvery Basin
- Indo-Gangetic Basin
- Assam & Assam-Arakan Basin
Major Challenges Utilizing the Shale Oil and Gas Resources:
Though India has substantial reserves of shale oil and gas, which can feed the needs of the country for a quarter century, taking advantage of these resources have never been on the forefront. The challenges for this are:
- The reserves are usually very deep, exceeding 5000 feet, hence it becomes very tedious and risky to extract the gas.
- Deep drillings have been detested by the environmentalists as they could permanently damage the quality of the ground water and contaminate them.
- The drilling (known as fracking activity) needs a lot of water consumption (around 10 times more needed for conventional sources), a water scarce country like India cannot afford that.
- Structural integrity of the land remains an issue as it exposes the potential for increased seismic activity.
The latest policy brief “Shale Gas in India: Look Before You Leap” by The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) explores the question of shale gas being a game changer in the context of India. The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India has granted permission for Shale gas and oil exploration and exploitation to various groups now. The policy was announced with the exclusive purpose of promoting Shale Gas & Oil operations, which has the potential to feed the energy needs of the country for a quarter century.
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