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Socio-economics

Assess benefits and costs of shale energy

Nature volume 510, page 473 (2014)Cite this article

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We estimate that around 300 million people across 6 continents occupy land overlying shale-energy reservoirs (see 'Socio-economic impacts of shale energy'). This figure is based on shale gas and oil basins identified by the US Energy Information Administration (see go.nature.com/tgsmsv) and on settlement data. Large-scale industrial extraction sites are likely to have socio-economic consequences for all these people.

These effects could be benefits or costs, depending on how they play out. Examples include positive or negative changes to income, employment and housing costs for individuals. For communities, there could be impacts on population growth, youth migration, income distribution, the aesthetic appeal of the landscape and service provision. Extraction sites could also alter the economic productivity of host areas, for example because of competition for land use or the energy sector's high wages.

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  1. CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Black Mountain Laboratories, Canberra, Australia

    Thomas G. Measham & David A. Fleming

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  1. Thomas G. Measham
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  2. David A. Fleming
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Correspondence to Thomas G. Measham.

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Measham, T., Fleming, D. Assess benefits and costs of shale energy. Nature 510, 473 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/510473a

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  1. Andy Holguin

    When the costs and benefits of shale oil are tallied up they should be compared to the continued reliance on mid-east oil and the associated political costs thereof including the funding of terrorists.

  2. Norman Morgan

    I think we should really invest more in producing an alternative energy source or at least change the way our machinery works in order to have a source of energy that is renewable and easy to obtain.

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