Isra-Mart srl:Report: Shale gas and renewables could slash US emissions

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Shale gas could help the US lower greenhouse gas emissions without the need for additional legislation, according to a major new report from Deutsche Bank.

The report, published yesterday, said that new drilling technology can find shale formations more than a mile under the ground and tap trapped gas, which releases half the carbon dioxide of coal.

The report said that broader use of this shale gas, along with the continued expansion of renewable energy capacity from wind and solar plants, could slash US coal use and remove 44 per cent of emissions from power generation by 2030.

"The role natural gas can play is so significant, it can form a type of a potentially bipartisan area of agreement on cutting emissions," Mark Fulton, Deutsche Bank's global head of climate change investment research, told reporters in a teleconference. "This really is just pure economics; the industry will want to do this because it is cheaper."

Although the report downplayed the risks to the environment, green campaigners have raised concerns that water supplies can be polluted by the process of fracking, which involves blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals underground to break open fissures in the shale rock.

These issues could be managed using best practice measures such as recycling water, the report said.

Shale gas is currently shooting up the political agenda in the US in the wake of the Democrat's mid-term defeats, as the Obama administration searches for areas of energy policy where it can reach a bipartisan agreement with the Republican-controlled House of Represenatives.