This portion of the article explores the framing of shale gas as a “bridge fuel” and its broader place as a tool in the global movement towards more widespread renewable energy practices. It is appreciative of the understanding that progress on renewable energy will not happen all at once, and instead needs to be lauded for its overall impact in reducing reliance on formats that produce much larger greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to this slow progress, there are significant numbers of institutional barriers that need to be met in order for renewable energies to be as prevalent as fossil fuels. In other words, the way that individual consumers receive their energy is built on infrastructure that best delivers fossil fuel-made energy, while the ways to receive energy from renewable services are ordinarily different. Energy can be made utilizing shale gas and passed along the same transmission methods that other fossil fuels use. However solar power has primarily been collected at a hyper-localized level. With the advent of solar farms, there can now be greater parody with the way that consumers receive this energy. China especially can benefit from the introduction of shale gas as a true competitor to other fossil fuel consumption. As the article notes, China will be a greater consumer of shale gas than the EU by the year 2035. China is currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, so any progress made towards reducing this practice is ultimately a win for the global goal of reduced emissions. The US by contrary has seen how disruptive shale gas sourcing has been on the total market for energy consumption, especially the renewable variety. It is simply a balance that must be struck between where consumption portfolios are now, and the desired to create a completely renewable energy portfolio in the next many decades.
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