ShaleSafe provides Shale Gas Operators with automated, in situ site environmental monitoring.        
Today, Shale Gas Operators monitor their sites by manually extracting samples and analysing them in a laboratory every few weeks. Pollution can therefore 
go undetected for days, even weeks.        
How ShaleSafe Helps        
The ShaleSafe sensor system, lowered into monitoring wells, will monitor key parameters several time a day, alerting the Shale Gas Operator whenever any 
pollution is detected and providing greater security for:       
Citizens: ShaleSafe-equipped Operators can provide local councils with reassurance that any pollution will be detected as soon as it occurs, not weeks 
later        
Operators: lower pollution risks, and operations futureproofed against regulatory change        
Regulators and Policymakers: ensuring pollution is detected immediately, protecting both the environment and the emergence of this new energy industry. 
            

This project  aims to develop a system for safe shale gas drilling in Europe and is being delivered by a consortium comprising TWI Ltd (UK), Danish Technological 
Institute (Denmark), ZELENA INFRASTRUKTURA (Croatia), HGL Dynamics Limited (UK) and META Group S.R.L. (Italy).     
      
     
The technology at the heart of the ShaleSafe project will enable the identification and exposure of underground water held in aquifers that has been contaminated 
by chemicals related to shale gas exploration and management. This will be achieved by developing an automated system incorporating sensors that will continuously 
detect in-situ methane and organic compounds, including the additives used in hydraulic fracturing hosting, and enable the quality of the underground water 
to be constantly monitored. In turn, this means that the operator can immediately be alerted when pollution is detected.     
The natural gas produced within shale gas plays, also known as formations, presents different technical and environmental challenges when compared to 
conventional gas plays.     
     
The key issue causing concern is related to the use of a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals 
is pumped under high pressure into the underground layer in order to break apart the rock and release the gas.     
The main environmental impacts in relation to shale gas extraction include underground water contamination; water abstraction; greenhouse gas emissions; 
and its potential effect on landscapes and local communities. The most imminent challenge for the oil and gas industry in Europe is to be able to demonstrate 
and guarantee, safe shale gas exploration and extraction in order to address the associated environmental concerns.     
     
Underground aquifers can become contaminated by methane and chemicals used during the fracking process. Currently, possible pollution is detected by 
taking samples at monitoring wells and analysing them in a laboratory. However, the process of collecting, preparing and transporting groundwater samples 
is prone to errors and, most importantly, analysing them can take several weeks, allowing pollution to go undetected for some time.