Posts Tagged ‘Shale gas mining’
Shale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on infrastructure and spatial planning
Shale gas development (SGD) is expected to have the following impacts: • Highly likely to be an incremental increase in the construction, upgrading and maintenance of road infrastructure with an associated increase in demand for scarce construction materials (including high quality gravel and water) and increased on-going road maintenance. • Highly likely to be increased…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Heritage in the Karoo
The study area contains a rich layering of heritage resources stretching over some 4.6 billion years. Geological heritage sites and meteorites are the oldest aspects of heritage considered here, while palaeontological resources cover more than 300 million years of prehistory. The archaeological record spans some 2 million years and covers the Early, Middle and Late…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Visual, Aesthetic and Scenic Resources
Concern has been expressed by many about the possible visual effect of shale gas development (SGD) on the character of the Karoo landscape, its sense of place and on tourism in the area. Further reference to these concerns is covered in Chapter 9 on tourism (Toerien et al., 2016), Chapter 11 on social fabric (Atkinson,…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Sense of Place Values
It is more meaningful to speak of senses of place in the Karoo rather than to attempt to define a single sense of place for the Karoo. This does not mean that all senses of place are equally valid or that any sense of place is justifiable within all contexts. Senses of place are often…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Water Resources
Water availability/supply for shale gas development (SGD) in the assessment study area is severely constrained. Surface water availability is generally low, with large areas of non-perennial, episodic and ephemeral streams experiencing very high inter-annual variability (Subsection 5.2.3). The surface water resources in the study area are already stressed (and in many areas over-allocated) to meet…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Biodiversity and Ecological Impacts
Nature of the study area and shale gas development (SGD) impacts 1. The study area includes relatively high levels of biodiversity, including highly sensitive and unique ecosystems and -species. Seven different biomes and 58 vegetation types, 119 range- restricted plant species, and 12 globally threatened animal species have been recorded from the study area. See…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Human Health
This Chapter of the scientific assessment focused on potential health impacts of four different shale gas development (SGD) scenarios. The status quo represents Scenario 0 (Reference Case), exploratory drilling representing Scenario 1 (Exploration Only), moderate drilling representing Scenario 2 (Small Gas), and lastly high gas production representing Scenario 3 (Big Gas). The scope of the…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Tourism in the Karoo
Experience indicates that mining and tourism invariably end up in conflict with each other. The impacts of shale gas development (SGD) in the study area might, therefore, result in risks for its tourism sector. The tourism sector in the study area is important. Currently it houses about 830 enterprises, the most of any business sector.…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on Social Fabric
The term “social fabric” embraces numerous complex and interrelated phenomena, including demographic and economic factors, behavioural issues (e.g. investment choices, political dynamics), social institutions (e.g. families), social organisations (e.g. municipalities and churches), and social networks, or relationships amongst people. The social fabric is underpinned by people’s beliefs and sentiments, including a sense of belonging and…
Read MoreShale Gas Development in the Central Karoo – Impacts on the Economy
Shale gas development (SGD) has the potential to yield highly significant economic opportunities, but also bears risks engendered by the extractive nature of SGD. In both respects it parallels other divisions of the mining sector. Previous South African research into the macro-economic opportunities associated with SGD reveals little agreement on likely benefits, their extent, or…
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