Pros and cons of shale gas for China

Shale gas in China could become a game changer. With recoverable resources of up to 36.1 trillion cubic meters, China has the world's largest deposit of shale gas, and if accessed properly, it could turn its energy problem on its head.

China's economy runs on coal. In 2011, China produced 3.8 billion tons of coal, almost half of the world's total. But coal's carbon footprint is devastating in terms of global warming - 1 ton of coal produces up to 2.86 tons of carbon dioxide. Shale gas emits about 45 percent less per unit of energy and could thus help China to reduce its carbon footprint significantly.

China's shale gas exploitation is still at a nascent stage and its drillings are mostly exploratory, and it has not yet started large-scale commercial production. But it released its first five-year plan for shale gas exploitation in March 2012, which has ambitious goals. By 2015, the country aims to produce as much as 6.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas a year, which would be equivalent to 3 percent of China's total gas production in 2015. And by 2020, it intends to produce up to 100 billion cubic meters of shale gas.