​Radiation discovered to be a major overlooked source of natural gas generation in shales

 

Recent research has shown that a substantial fraction of shale gas in some cases more than 25% has been produced by the radioactive decomposition of organic matter.This mechanism had been dismissed but now this discovery could prove crucial for monitoring emissions near fracking sites to ensure that the potent greenhouse gas methane is not released into the atmosphere. A mixture of methane and smaller quantities of ethane propane and butane that makes up natural gas has been traditionally extracted from oil wells but now there is a need to extract these gases from other sources. Many of the deep shales found all around the world are also rich in radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium. The radiation of organic matter by these elements can produce the radiolytic gases which are ethane propane and some of the heavier alkanes.



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