Funds from this grant support a collaboration between Alan Krupnick and colleagues at Resources for the Future (RFF), and a team from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), to develop suggested guidelines on effective ways to address high-priority pathways associated with shale gas development. Starting with a list of 15 risk pathways all identified as high priority by a diverse selection of knowledgeable industry insiders, environmentalists, and regulators, RFF will collect and integrate information on risks, mitigation costs, regulation, and best practices for each pathway, culminating in a cost-benefit and modeling analysis of regulatory options for addressing the least controversial, most pressing risks associated with shale gas extraction. EDF will then involve a small group of motivated leaders from industry, nongovernmental organizations, regulatory bodies, and academia in a sustained attempt to build a consensus around guidelines for risk mitigation in shale gas development that will aim at improving both government regulation and industry practices. Additional grant funds support outreach and educational efforts, including outreach through websites, newsletters, blogs, popular articles, discussion papers, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed articles.

This grant supports the work of Dr. Kenneth Medlock at Rice University to understand how new and proposed federal and local regulations will influence natural gas resource development and pricing in the United States. Medlock will identify the range of federal, state, and local policy options being proposed by specific stakeholders, legislators, and special interest groups regarding shale gas production in the United States. He will then specify several potential regulatory scenarios for analysis. Using the Rice World Gas Trade Model, he will then quantify the impact of proposed changes in regulation and taxation on the pace and scope of natural gas resource development and on the price of natural gas in different regions of the world. This analysis will allow him to highlight the regional and global market implications and the international geopolitical implications of the potential policies. Grant funds will support an initial exploratory workshop to identify relevant policies; analysis and modelling; an interim workshop; and a major capstone conference once his analysis is completed. Written products will include two to three academic papers, six to eight economic modeling projections with regional focus, a study monograph, and a policy white paper.

This grant provides continued research support to the Deep Energy community of the Deep Carbon Observatory. Led by an international team of 21 scientists from eight nations and co-chaired by David Cole of Ohio State University and Isabelle Daniel of the University of Lyon, the Deep Energy research team is conducting an ambitious research agenda aimed at transforming our understanding of the origins, abundance, and distribution of abiotic hydrocarbons in the deep Earth. Over the next two years, the team will expand its sampling to 10 key geologically representative field sites around the globe; develop and deploy new instruments for sample collection and analysis; set common protocols for the collection, preservation, and analysis of samples; and work toward the development of rigorous, effective methods for distinguishing biotic from abiotic hydrocarbon.