Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2014 May;16(5):954-69. doi: 10.1039/c4em00081a.
Increased use of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") in unconventional oil and natural gas (O & NG) development from coal, sandstone, and shale deposits in the United States (US) has created environmental concerns over water and air quality impacts. In this perspective we focus on how the production of unconventional O & NG affects air quality. We pay particular attention to shale gas as this type of development has transformed natural gas production in the US and is set to become important in the rest of the world. A variety of potential emission sources can be spread over tens of thousands of acres of a production area and this complicates assessment of local and regional air quality impacts. We outline upstream activities including drilling, completion and production. After contrasting the context for development activities in the US and Europe we explore the use of inventories for determining air emissions. Location and scale of analysis is important, as O & NG production emissions in some US basins account for nearly 100% of the pollution burden, whereas in other basins these activities make up less than 10% of total air emissions. While emission inventories are beneficial to quantifying air emissions from a particular source category, they do have limitations when determining air quality impacts from a large area. Air monitoring is essential, not only to validate inventories, but also to measure impacts. We describe the use of measurements, including ground-based mobile monitoring, network stations, airborne, and satellite platforms for measuring air quality impacts. We identify nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), ozone, hazardous air pollutants (HAP), and methane as pollutants of concern related to O & NG activities. These pollutants can contribute to air quality concerns and they may be regulated in ambient air, due to human health or climate forcing concerns. Close to well pads, emissions are concentrated and exposure to a wide range of pollutants is possible. Public health protection is improved when emissions are controlled and facilities are located away from where people live. Based on lessons learned in the US we outline an approach for future unconventional O & NG development that includes regulation, assessment and monitoring.
在美国，从煤炭、砂岩和页岩矿床中非常规石油和天然气（O&NG）的水力压裂（“压裂”）使用增加，引发了对水和空气质量影响的环境关注。在这篇观点文章中，我们重点关注非常规 O&NG 的生产如何影响空气质量。我们特别关注页岩气，因为这种类型的开发改变了美国的天然气生产，并且将在世界其他地区变得重要。各种潜在的排放源可能分布在生产区域的数万英亩土地上，这使得评估当地和区域空气质量影响变得复杂。我们概述了上游活动，包括钻井、完井和生产。在对比了美国和欧洲的开发活动背景之后，我们探讨了使用清单来确定空气排放。分析的位置和规模很重要，因为在美国的一些盆地，O&NG 生产排放占污染负担的近 100％，而在其他盆地，这些活动仅占总空气排放量的不到 10％。虽然排放清单有利于量化特定源类别的空气排放，但在确定大面积空气质量影响时存在局限性。空气质量监测至关重要，不仅可以验证清单，还可以测量影响。我们描述了使用测量方法，包括地面移动监测、网络站、空中和卫星平台来测量空气质量影响。我们确定氮氧化物、挥发性有机化合物（VOC）、臭氧、有害空气污染物（HAP）和甲烷是与 O&NG 活动相关的关注污染物。这些污染物可能会对空气质量产生影响，并且由于人类健康或气候强迫问题，它们可能会在环境空气中受到监管。在井场附近，排放物集中，可能会接触到各种污染物。当排放物得到控制并且设施远离人们居住的地方时，公众健康保护得到改善。根据美国的经验教训，我们概述了一种未来非常规 O&NG 开发的方法，包括监管、评估和监测。
