The diploma thesis deals with the energy security of China, mainly with the question considering energy mix, consumption, infrastructure network and diversification of importers in natural gas field. The analysis of research question is done mainly from the data of international energy organizations, from the Chinese government data and other sources, which enable to describe mentioned problems. From the People's Republic of China perspective, it focuses on the detailed description of gas pipeline infrastructure, importers and subjects, which are involved in energy sector. Risks and threats, which should occur from signed partnerships or projects, were taken into consideration too. The aim of this work is to define and evaluate the energy security of PRC, its energy policy mainly in natural gas field when considering present situation as well as possibilities for the future. Than the diploma thesis outlines the role of natural gas in Chinese energy mix, state of the gas sector in China and evaluation of projects, which take place in China's gas sector or will occur in the future.

<div>As the global population approaches 10 billion by the mid-century, supplying all the needs of the human race from the Earth’s limited land area and resources with minimized greenhouse gas emission will be the essential challenge of sustainability. In a sustainable economy, all renewable energy, in combination with carbon sources and other elements from the nature, such as water, air and land, will be used synergistically to produce building blocks for human beings. These building blocks, including electricity, heat, fuels, hydrogen, etc., will enable the production of all the end uses for human beings. The challenge for chemical engineers is to come up with processes and synergistic strategies to enable such a sustainable future.</div><div><br></div><div>Shale gas can serve as both energy resource and chemical feedstock for the transition period towards a sustainable economy, and has the potential to be a carbon source for the long term. Natural gas liquids contained in shale gas provide abundant feedstock for chemical and fuel production and could bring extra value for remote shale gas basins. Unlike current shale gas processing where large scales are preferred, simple and intensified processes with least processing steps and least pieces of equipment are favored for remote shale plays. While conventional shale gas processing usually follows a four-section hierarchy of "gas treatment - NGL recovery - NGL fractionation - NGL activation", four innovative configurations are proposed for simpler and intensified process design, including NGL co-processing, integrated NGL recovery and activation, switched NGL recovery and activation, and eliminated NGL recovery. A two-step conversion of NGLs to liquid hydrocarbons via dehydrogenation followed by oligomerization is used as an example to show how these innovative process designs evolve. Simulation results show that the loss of ethane, the NGL component with the highest concentration, could be largely reduced by the innovative process configurations. At the same time, higher yield of liquid products, fewer processing steps, reduced pieces of equipment and elimination of energy and capital-intensive units can be achieved. The intensification of process here would benefit the modularization of shale gas plants, and make it possible for distributed production of liquid hydrocarbons onsite for remote shale locations. </div><div><br></div><div>While shale gas being the carbon source for a sustainable future, renewable energy, especially solar and wind energy, will become the dominant energy resources for a sustainable economy. However, both solar and wind energy are dilute resources and harvesting them requires vast tracts of land, which could potentially compete with agricultural production for food. As a bookend case study, we investigate the land requirement for a 100% solar economy. The contiguous United States is used as an example and our analysis takes into account several issues that are usually ignored, such as the intermittent solar availability, estimation of future energy demand, actual power production from solar farms and available land types. Results show that it will be difficult for currently available land to meet the energy needs using current solar park designs for the entire contiguous United States and for nearly half of the individual states, which include well over half of the total US population. Barring radical improvements in agricultural output that could greatly reduce the land devoted to agriculture, the competition for land between energy and food seems inevitable, posing a major challenge to a future solar economy. If we extend the study to Germany, the United Kingdom and China, we could see that the challenge exists for both developed and developing countries. </div><div><br></div><div>To resolve the issue, a concept of "Aglectric" farming is proposed, where agricultural land produces electricity without diminishing existing agricultural output. Both wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) panels can be used to generate electricity on agricultural land. While the use of the current PV panels is known to have a negative impact on crop growth, we propose several innovative PV systems using existing and new materials, innovative installation paradigms and module designs. Through extensive modeling of PV shadows throughout a day, we show that some of our designed PV systems could mitigate the loss of solar radiation while still maintaining substantial power output. Thus, it should be possible to design and install these PV systems on agricultural land to have significant power output without potentially diminishing agricultural production. We also show that PV aglectric farms alone will have the potential of realizing a 100% solar economy without land constraint. Together with regular PV parks and wind aglectric farms, PV aglectric farms will serve as an important option for a renewable future.</div><div><br></div><div>With its high energy density and zero greenhouse gas emission, hydrogen is the key energy carrier in a sustainable future. We introduce a process design strategy for the production of hydrogen by high temperature water electrolysis using concentrated solar thermal energy. At the same time, co-production of hydrogen and electricity is investigated where hydrogen can be produced by both thermochemical cycles and high temperature electrolysis. The process design features the process integration between hydrogen production and power generation. Process simulation is performed in an integrated Matlab and Aspen Plus platform. Efficiencies are analyzed for various processes.</div><div><br></div><div>Synergy is the key feature of all the studies in the dissertation. Process intensification for shale gas conversion and process integration for solar hydrogen production are examples of synergy at the process level. Coproduction of hydrogen and electricity and coproduction of electricity and food are examples of synergy at the building block level. Potential synergistic use of solar, wind and shale resources is an example of synergy at the resource level. Synergy is the keyword of the sustainable future we are pursuing.</div>

This work focuses on situations where two different sectors of human security - economic and environmental - clash. It uses the currently popular topic of shale gas in the United States in order to determine what happens when such conflict occurs. It also tries to find out which sector potentially dominates in this conflict. The first part of the work defines the research questions, states my preliminary working thesis and discusses sources used. The theoretical background of the whole work is then outlined in the second part. Special attention is given to the concept of human security and the Copenhagen school, i.e. to elements that widened the traditional perception of security. The second part, however, is also engaged in the definition of the theoretical framework of given security sectors in the context of US shale gas. The third part is the core of the work's research. Here, various mini case studies within the United States and their economic and environmental variables are discussed. The aim is to find out what happened in specific cases when the clash of the two sectors occurred. The fourth part aims to outline the possible factors not mentioned in the third part, which, however, could still play a role in the shaping of the results. In the fifth section, there is a preliminary analysis of...

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since its arrival onto the U.S. energy scene in the early 2000s, shale gas has had a significant impact on the global energy market. The fact that the shale gas supply of a single country has had such a widespread influence on the global energy market hints at the power that this energy resource holds as a ‘game changer’. With the fifth largest estimated shale gas reserves in the world, South Africa now faces the challenge of developing its own shale gas resources in the Karoo Basin. Having lifted the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in September 2012, the South African government has indicated its interest in pursuing the commercial extraction of the country’s estimated shale gas reserves. This comes in light of the country’s potential energy crisis, as well as an increased role for natural gas in the country’s energy mix. South Africa has no history of shale gas extraction and currently has no legislation or regulatory practices in place to deal specifically with shale gas and hydraulic fracturing. The South African government thus faces the challenge of drawing policy lessons from other experienced shale gas-producing nations, such as the U.S., to close these regulatory gaps and exploit its national shale gas resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way. Consequently, this thesis focuses on the regulation of the American shale gas industry by asking what policy lessons the South African government can draw from the United States of America on its regulation of shale gas extraction. Richard Rose’s lesson-drawing approach to policy learning was adopted as the theoretical framework for this study and can also be applied as an analytical tool to aid in data collection and data analysis. Furthermore, the framework was operationalised through the research methods used for this case study, which consisted of a review of literature on the U.S. regulation of shale gas extraction. This research produced a number of key findings in the form of policy lessons for South Africa. Four main policy lessons were drawn on the regulation of shale gas extraction: regulation of shale gas extraction must occur at all levels of government—national, provincial and local; policy research must be used to inform policymaking for the development of new legislation specific to shale gas and hydraulic fracturing, so as to avoid regulatory exemptions often linked to ad hoc policymaking on shale gas extraction; each level of government and their related regulatory agencies must have clearly defined regulatory roles relating to shale gas and hydraulic fracturing; and finally, there must be uniformity in terms of the regulatory focus of shale gas regulators at all levels of government. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert skaliegas vroeg in die jare sedert 2000 op die Amerikaanse energietoneel verskyn het, het dit ‘n beduidende impak op die globale energiemark gehad. Die feit dat die voorraad skaliegas van een land so ‘n wydverspreide invloed gehad het op die globale energiemark is ‘n aanduiding van die mag van hierdie energiebron as ‘n spel-wisselaar.Suid-Afrika het die vyfde-grootste skaliegasreserwes ter wêreld, en staan nou voor die uitdaging om sy eie skaliegasreserwes in die Karookom te ontwikkel. Nadat die moratorium op hidrobreking in September 2012 opgehef is, het die Suid-Afrikaanse regering aangedui dat hulle belangstel om die land se beraamde skaliegasreserwes kommersieel te ontgin. Dit het ontstaan in die lig van die potensiële energiekrisis wat Suid-Afrika in die gesig staar, asook die begeerte dat aardgas ‘n groter rol moet speel in die land se mengsel van energiebronne. Suid-Afrika het geen geskiedenis van skaliegasontginning nie en tans is daar geen wetgewing of regulerende praktyke in plek wat spesifiek te make het met skaliegas en hidrobreking nie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering staan dus voor die uitdaging om te leer uit die beleidsrigtings van ander ervare skaliegaslande soos die V.S.A. ten einde hierdie leemtes in regulering op te hef en sy nasionale skaliegasreserwes op ‘n omgewingsvriendelike en ekonomies-verantwoordelike manier te ontgin. Gevolglik fokus hierdie tesis op die regulering van die Amerikaanse skaliegas-industrie deur te vra watter beleidslesse die Suid-Afrikaanse regering kan leer by die Amerikaanse regering oor die regulering van hulle skaliegasontginning. Richard Rose se 'lesson-drawing'-benadering tot die leer van beleid is aanvaar as die teoretiese raamwerk vir hierdie studie en kan ook aangewend word as 'n analitiese instrument om te help met dataversameling en -analise. Die raamwerk is verder geoperasionaliseer deur die navorsingsmetodes wat gebruik is vir hierdie gevallestudie, wat bestaan het uit 'n oorsig van die literatuur oor die V.S.A. se regulering van skaliegasontginning. Hierdie navorsing het ‘n aantal sleutelbevindinge opgelewer in terme van beleidslesse vir Suid-Afrika. Die vier vernaamste beleidslesse oor die regulering van skaliegasontginning wat na vore gekom het, is die volgende: die regulering van skaliegas moet op alle vlakke van regering geskied – nasionaal, provinsiaal en op plaaslike vlak; navorsing oor beleid moet gebruik word om beleidsvorming in te lig sodat nuwe wetgewing ontwikkel kan word wat spesifiek gerig is op skaliegas en hidrobreking, ten einde uitsonderings op regulering te voorkom wat dikwels verbind word met ad hoc beleidsformulering; elke vlak van regering en sy verwante reguleringsagentskappe moet duidelik gedefinieerde reguleringsrolle hê ten opsigte van skaliegas en hidrobreking; en, ten slotte, daar moet eenvormigheid wees in die reguleringsfokus van skaliegasreguleerders op alle vlakke van regering. / National Research Foundation (DAAD-NRF)

L’analyse de la controverse sur le gaz de schiste en France et au Québec à un niveauintermédiaire (méso) permet de souligner les processus de construction et contestation sociale etpolitique des différents cadrages soutenus par les réseaux d’acteurs en concurrence. Lesdynamiques d’intéressement à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de l’action publique illustrent lesmultiples scènes et forums dans lesquels se déploie la controverse. L’analyse de la construction dece problème public et ses diverses redéfinitions démontre le rôle central du cadrage politique descontroverses. Les solutions retenues définissent tout autant qu’elles tentent de réduire le risquerelatif à cette nouvelle industrie gazière (face à un risque cadré comme technologique en France,on observe un cadrage sur l’acceptabilité sociale au Québec). Il s’agit alors d’insisterparticulièrement sur la dimension procédurale de problématisation des enjeux au regard du recoursà la participation publique et à l’expertise scientifique. Les multiples acteurs de cette controversesont interrogés : les participants à la mobilisation sociale mais aussi les acteurs de l’industrie et desstructures politiques et administratives, afin de dresser la cartographie de leur position mais ausside leurs discours depuis les prémices de cette nouvelle activité industrielle d’exploration du gaz deschiste (2008) jusqu’aux derniers rebondissements politiques (2015). Cette recherche s’appuie surun corpus d’entretiens qualitatifs (40) mais aussi d’articles de presse écrite (2 400) ainsi que surl’analyse qualitative et quantitative des divers rapports et commissions de travail sur le gaz deschiste. / The analysis of the shale gas controversy in France and Quebec at an intermediate (meso)level stresses the social and political construction and dispute processes of the various framingssupported by contesting actors’ networks. “Interestment” dynamics both inside and outside publicpolicies show the multiple scenes and forums in which the controversy unfold. The analysis ofhow this public problem is built and its various redefinitions shows the core role of politicalframing of controversies. The solutions define as well as they reduce the risk related to this newindustry (a technological risk in France and a frame on social acceptability in Quebec). It is thenimportant to stress the procedural dimension of problematizing the stakes regarding publicparticipation and scientific expertise. This study questions the various actors of the controversy,those of social mobilization, the industry and the political and administrative structures, to mapboth their position and their discourses since the beginnings of the new industrial activity ofexploring for shale gas (2008) to the latest political developments (2015). This study is based on acorpus of qualitative interviews (40), press articles (2 400) and a qualitative and quantitativeanalysis of the various reports and committees on shale gas.

The oil and natural gas industry worldwide has become one of the most important commodities due to its value in use and dependency in our modern lifestyle. Countries with rich oil and natural gas reserves has shown to exploit these resources to the country's economic benefit. South Africa has in the past not been part of the big oil and natural gas producing countries of the world. But recent discoveries of possible shale gas reserves in the Karoo Basin attracted interest by foreign oil and gas companies with the potential that South Africa has as an oil and natural gas producing country. The purpose of this study is to compare the South African income tax law and regulations with that of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, which arguable can be seen as one of the world's big oil and natural gas producing countries. The study firstly develops an understanding of each of the two countries' oil and natural gas industries and thereafter compares the two countries income tax laws, the income tax system and collection method of the income tax revenues. The study then concludes on the status of the South African income tax regime in comparison to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea's income tax regime. The introduction of the Tenth Schedule to the South African Income Tax Act (58/1962) has brought the income tax laws in South Africa in line with international practice. Consideration should be given to broadening the income tax revenue collection methods in order to broaden the tax base for South Africa. AFRIKAANS : Die olie en natuurlike gas industrie wêreldwyd het een van die mees belangrike kommoditeite geword as gevolg van die waarde en afhanklikheid wat dit het vir ons moderne leefstyl. Lande met ryk olie en natuurlike gas reserwes het bewys dat die gebruik daarvan tot voordeel van 'n land se ekonomiese groei kan lei. Suid-Afrika het in die verlede nie as een van die wêreld se reuse in olie en natuurlike gas produksie getel nie. Maar met die onlangse ontdekking van moontlike skalie gas reserwes in die Karoo Kom het belangstelling van buitelandse olie en gas maatskappye gelok in die potensiaal wat Suid-Afrika het om 'n olie en natuurlike gas produserende land te wees. Die doel van die studie is om 'n vergelyking te tref tussen Suid-Afrika se inkomste belasting wette en regulasies met die van die Republiek van Equatoriaal Guinea, wat gesien kan word as een van die reuse van die wêreld as dit kom by olie en natuurlike gas produserende lande. Die studie skets eerstens 'n agtergrond van die twee lande se olie en natuurlike gas industrieë en daarna vergelyk die studie die twee lande se inkomste belasting wette, die inkomste belasting stelsels en invorderings metodes van die inkomste belasting. Die studie kom dan tot 'n gevolgtrekking oor die status van die Suid-Afrikaanse inkomste belasting omgewing teenoor die Republiek van Equatoriaal Guinea se inkomste belasting omgewing. Die bekendstelling van die Tiende Skedule tot die Inkomste Belasting Wet (58/1962) het die Suid-Afrikaanse inkomste belasting wet in lyn gebring met internasionale inkomste belasinvorderings metodes van die inkomste belasting te verbreed om sodoende die belastingbasis te vergroot.ting wette. Oorweging moet geskenk word aan die invorderings metodes van die inkomste belasting te verbreed om sodoende die belastingbasis te vergroot. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

Sous l’angle des controverses économiques et environnementales autour des hydrocarbures non conventionnels, cette thèse contribue au développement des outils de la modélisation intégrée sous deux aspects : leur capacité à représenter la dynamique de long terme des marchés de l’énergie ; la prise en compte des liens entre l’économie et la dynamique des différents gaz à effet de serre.Dans le premier cas, un jeu de simulations avec le modèle Imaclim-R met en évidence les impacts économiques du gaz et pétrole de schiste à travers (i) les liens entre trajectoires de crois-sance et inerties techniques ; (ii) la conditionnalité des gains de compétitivité des États-Unis aux stratégies implicites ou explicites de ce pays en matière de spécialisation internationale et de régime de change. Au détour de ces simulations nous étudions (α) les processus d’ajustement vers l’équilibre de long terme, en regardant les conditions d’obtention et de convergence des équilibres temporaires du modèle ; (β) les limites de tractabilitéd’une maquette stylisée du modèle reproduisant les mécanismes centraux.Dans le deuxième cas est traitée la question du rôle du méthane à court et long terme dans les stratégies climatiques. L’intégration du modèle réduit du système terrestre Oscar2.2 aumodèle Imaclim-R permet d’apprécier le rôle du méthane dans les coûts de l’atténuation et d’évaluer le risque d’émissions fugitives en tête de puits de gaz de schiste. Les simulations montrent que d’une part, l’avantage économique de la disponibilité en gaz de schiste peut être nuancé au regard du coût induit par ces émissions fugitives. D’autre part, les stratégies climatiques ambitieuses visant à limiter les augmentations de température bien en deçà de 2° voir 1.5°C nécessitent un contrôle plus immédiat des émissions de méthane. / From the perspective of economic and environmental controversies over unconventional oil and gas resources, this thesis contributes to the development of integrated modelling tools intwo aspects : their ability to reflect the long-term dynamics of energy markets ; and the consideration of the links between the economy and the dynamics of the various greenhouse gases.In the first case, a set of simulations with the Imaclim-R model highlights the economic impacts of shale gas and light tight oil through (i) the links between growth paths and technicalinertia ; (ii) the conditionality of US competitiveness gains on implicit or explained strategies ; and (iii) the conditionality of US competitiveness gains on this country implicit or explicit strategies in terms of international specialization and exchange rate regime. In the course of these simulations, we study (α) the adjustment processes towards the long-term equilibrium, looking at the conditions of existence and convergence of the model temporary equilibria ; (β) the tractability limits of a stylized model of Imaclim-R reproducing the main mechanisms.In the second case, the question of the role of methane in short and long term climate strategies is addressed. The integration of the Oscar2.2 Earth System model into the Imaclim-Rmodel is used to assess the role of methane in terms of mitigation costs and to assess the risk of emissions leakage at shale gas wellheads. The simulations show that, on the one hand, theeconomic advantage of shale gas availability can be balanced against the costs induced by these emissions leakage. On the other hand, the ambitous climate strategies aiming at limitingtemperature increases well below 2° or 1.5°C require a more instant control of methane.

Hydraulic fracturing operations utilized for shale gas production result in the generation of a large volume of flowback and produced water that contain suspended material, salts, hydrocarbons, metals, chemical additives, and naturally-occurring radioactive material. The water is impounded at drilling sites or treated off-site, resulting in significant generation of residual solids. These are either buried on site or are disposed in lined landfills. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of heavy metals and other elements of concern that will leach from these residual solids when placed in typical disposal environments. For this purpose, laboratory leaching experiments were employed wherein representative samples were brought into contact with a liquid to determine the constituents that would be leached by the liquid and potentially released into the environment. The samples used included sludge resulting from the physicochemical treatment of process water (TS), sludge solidified with cement kiln dust (SS), raw solids obtained by gravity separation of process water (RS), and drilling mud (DM). The samples were subjected to both single extraction (i.e. Shake Extraction Test, SET) and multiple extraction (i.e. Immersion Test, IT) leaching tests. For the shake extraction test, samples were mixed with a specific amount of leaching solution without renewal over a short time period. In the immersion test, samples were immersed in a specific amount of leaching solution that was periodically renewed over a longer period of time. For both these tests, analyses were performed on the filtered eluate. The tests were performed as per standards with modifications. Distilled de-ionized water, synthetic acid rain (pH ~ 4.2), weak acetic acid (pH ~ 2.88), and synthetic landfill leachate were used as leaching solutions to mimic specific disposal environments. Alkali metals (Li, K, Na), alkaline earth metals (Ba, Ca, Mg, Sr) and a halide (Br), which are typically associated with Marcellus shale and produced waters, leached at high concentrations from most of the residual solids sample. The SS sample, due to its stabilization with CKD, had a lower extraction efficiency as compared to the unconsolidated TS and RS samples. In EF 2.9 and EF SLL, the leaching took place under acidic conditions, while for EF DDI and EF 4.2, the leaching occurred in alkaline conditions. EF 2.9 and EF SLL were determined to be the most aggressive leaching solutions, causing the maximum solubility of most inorganic elements. Thus, high amounts of most EOCs may leach from these residual solids in MSW landfills disposed under co-disposal conditions. Agitation, pH and composition of the leaching solution were determined to be important variables in evaluating the leaching potential of a sample. The results of this study should help with the design of further research experiments being undertaken to develop environmentally responsible management/disposal strategies for these residual solids and also prove useful for regulatory authorities in their efforts to develop specific guidelines for the disposal of residuals from shale gas production operations. / Master of Science

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