selwyn adams’s scientific contributions

The potential economic and energy security opportunities of a medium to large shale gas resource could be substantial for South Africa; as are both the potential social and environmental risks associated with a domestic gas industry in the Central Karoo. The development of shale gas using vertical and horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ technologies, has been presented to the South African public and decision makers as a trade-off between economic opportunity and environmental protection. As such, it has become a highly divisive topic in South Africa, but one which has been, up to now, poorly informed by publically-available evidence. To address this lack of critically-evaluated information, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for shale gas development (SGD) was commissioned in February 2015 by the Republic of South Africa, represented by the Department of Environmental Affairs with the support of the Departments of Energy, Mineral Resources, Water Affairs and Sanitation, Science and Technology, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; and the Provincial Departments of the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape Governments.