Advances in Methane Production from Coal, Shale and Other Tight Rocks

Dear Colleagues,

Global demand for energy, directives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and technological advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have spurred a rapid increase in alternative and unconventional energy production over the past decade. The application of new technologies has enabled natural gas and shale oil to be economically produced from shale and other unconventional formations. Further, various methods have been adopted to improve gas recovery, including but not limited to high-precision characterization of coal and shale reservoirs at multiscales, fast drilling and completion of wells with long laterals as well as large-scale volume fracturing, and new technologies such as multiple well-type development, fluid injection, nano-flooding, and enhancing biogenic methane generation methods. 

The aim of this Special Issue is to report on the state of the art in fundamental discipline application to methane production and associated challenges in geoengineering activities. We are particularly interested in the three levels of methane and other hydrocarbon production issues, geological and hydrological controls on the accumulation of hydrocarbon, coupled thermal-hydromechanical–chemical processes influencing methane migration, and new technologies and related field tests applied in hydrocarbon production in coal mines and oil fields. We hope to focus both on progress in new methods and on new technique development. We welcome both original research and review articles

Dr. Yong Li
Prof. Dr. Fan Cui
Dr. Chao Xu
Guest Editors

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