[WRI] 주요 세계 쉐일 자원, 물 스트레스 증가에 직면

세계자원기구(WRI)의 새 보고서에 따르면 쉐일 가스를 개발하기 위해 수압파쇄법을 이용하는 정부와 사업들은 전 세계 가장 큰 매장지에서 심한 물 경쟁을 겪을 수 있다. "Global Shale Gas Development: Water Availability & Business Risk"라는 보고서는 모든 잠재적인 상업 쉐일 가스에 걸친 물 효용성과 전 세계의 부족한 원유 자원에 대해 분석한 일반인에게 공개가능한 최초의 자료이다.

보고서에서는 전 세계 쉐일 자원 중 38퍼센트가 심각한 물 부족과 건조한 환경에 직면했다고 밝혔다. 글로벌 쉐일 가스 개발 보고는 가장 많은 쉐일 자원을 가진 20개국 전역의 물 부족을 랭크한다. 이 국가들 중 40퍼센트는 미래에 건조하거나 심한 물 부족 환경에서 쉐일을 생산하게 될 수 있다. 또한, 이 보고서는 현재 파쇄수압법을 이용하고 있거나 혹은 앞으로 이용할 11개 국가(알제리, 아르헨티나, 호주, 캐나다, 중국, 멕시코, 폴란드, 사우디아라비아, 남아프리카, 영국, 미국)에서 모든 쉐일 활용에 있어서의 물 유효성을 평가한다.

 

According to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI), governments and businesses using hydraulic fracturing to develop shale gas could face intense water competition in the world's largest reserves.

The report, "Global Shale Gas Development: Water Availability & Business Risk," is the first publicly-available analysis of water availability across all potential commercial shale gas and tight oil resources worldwide. The report finds that 38 percent of the world's shale resources face high to extremely high water stress or arid conditions.

The Global Shale Gas Development report ranks water stress across the 20 countries with the largest shale resources. In 40 percent of these countries, future shale production could occur in arid conditions or under high water stress.

The report also evaluates water availability for every shale play in the 11 countries either pursuing or most likely to pursue hydraulic fracturing: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Water availability and shale resources vary from country to country, making hydraulic fracturing's potential unique in almost every location.

The report shares four recommendations to help governments, companies and civil societies protect water security while minimizing business risks:

Conduct water risk assessments to understand local water availability and reduce business risk.
Increase transparency and engage with local regulators, communities and industry to minimize uncertainty.

Ensure adequate water governance to guarantee water security and reduce regulatory and reputational risks.

Minimize freshwater use and engage in corporate water stewardship to reduce impacts on water availability.

Seven indicators were used to evaluate water availability and the associated business risks for shale development: Water stress, water-supply variation among months of the year, drought severity, groundwater depletion rates, largest water user, population density, and depth of shale reserve.

The report builds upon WRI's Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, the world's most high-resolution publicly-available global water mapping and risk-assessment platform. Aqueduct's global water risk mapping tool helps companies, investors, governments, and other users understand where and how water risks and opportunities are emerging worldwide.

[출처 = Water World / 2014년 9월 2일]