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Water footprint of hydraulic fracturing in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada

Wisen Joshua, Chesnaux Romain, Wendling Gilles et Werring John. (2019). Water footprint of hydraulic fracturing in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Earth Sciences, 78, e689.

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URL officielle: http://dx.doi.org/doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8740-...

Résumé

The method of hydraulic fracturing used to exploit unconventional shale gas has raised public concerns over the volumes of freshwater that are extracted for injection operations as well as the volumes of wastewater generated as a by-product of gas production. Using data from the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission, this paper examines the volumes of produced and injected water from hydraulically fractured gas wells in Northeastern British Columbia. The two major producing shale gas basins in the province are the Montney and the Horn River. In this study, these are divided into several sub-basins based on existing geological and reservoir engineering applications. For each sub-basin the average volumes of wastewater- and injected water per well are calculated and then normalized to cumulative gas production. Ratios of injected water: gas production and wastewater: gas production are then applied to estimated volumes of remaining gas reserves in each sub-basin in order to calculate a total water footprint of future exploitation. These extrapolated water footprints were further elaborated into three scenarios of wastewater recycling rates: 0, 40, and 100% re-use. This study also compares the quality and quantity of wastewater produced from hydraulically fractured wells to their conventional counterparts in the province. Based on these calculations, the total future freshwater withdrawal and wastewater production volumes for all basins range from 1.65 to 3 billion, and 0 to 1.35 billion cubic metres, respectively. Volumes of freshwater withdrawal are relatively modest compared to other industries when considering the size of Northeastern British Columbia and the time-scale of extraction. In general, hydraulically fractured wells in Northeastern British Columbia produce volumes of wastewater that are equal to or lower than those required for injection. Unconventional gas wells often produce far less wastewater than their conventional counterparts.

Type de document:Article publié dans une revue avec comité d'évaluation
Volume:78
Pages:e689
Version évaluée par les pairs:Oui
Date:3 Décembre 2019
Sujets:Sciences naturelles et génie > Sciences naturelles > Sciences de la terre (géologie, géographie)
Département, module, service et unité de recherche:Départements et modules > Département des sciences appliquées > Unité d'enseignement en sciences de la Terre
Mots-clés:Shale gas, hydraulic fracturing, Northeastern British Columbia, freshwater withdrawal, produced water, water footprint, gaz de schiste, fracturation hydraulique, Nord-est de la Colombie-Britannique, retrait d'eau douce, eau produite, empreinte hydrique
Déposé le:09 janv. 2020 02:27
Dernière modification:10 févr. 2023 15:26
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