Defining the Shale Gas Life Cycle

The document introduces a proposed life cycle boundary for shale gas to address inconsistencies in environmental impact studies. WRI notes that variations in how studies define life cycle stages—such as omitting exploration or combustion—lead to differing estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and wastewater production, thereby hindering constructive dialogue on impact reduction strategies.

• Existing environmental impact assessments of shale gas exhibit significant variations in scope and boundaries, which leads to inconsistent findings regarding greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and wastewater production.
• The inconsistency in findings is partly attributed to the life cycle boundary used in each study; some assessments omit critical stages such as exploration, processing, or combustion, or fail to distinguish between stages and processes.
• WRI's proposed life cycle framework for shale gas covers the period from exploration to well closure/site remediation and from production to use, aligning with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14044.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Defining the Shale Gas Life Cycle. https://www.wri.org/research/defining-shale-gas-life-cycle

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Defining the Shale Gas Life Cycle. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/defining-shale-gas-life-cycle.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Defining the Shale Gas Life Cycle |url=https://www.wri.org/research/defining-shale-gas-life-cycle |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutenddefining, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Defining the Shale Gas Life Cycle}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/defining-shale-gas-life-cycle}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }