Construction of technology and management system for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation in normal-pressure shale gas development in ecologically sensitive areas

Large-scale shale gas development in ecologically sensitive areas is confronted with severe environmental challenges such as water resource consumption, land occupation, and solid waste management.Taking the normal-pressure shale gas field in Nanchuan, Southeastern Sichuan as the engineering context, a management-technology dual-driven green development system has been established, covering the entire process of source reduction, process control, resource recycling, and terminal treatment.Engineering practice demonstrated that the system achieved 100% resource utilization of both oil-based and water-based drilling cuttings, as well as 100% compliance treatment and reuse of produced water; it has cumulatively reduced land acquisition by 13.33 hectares, saved 95.1×10³ tons of standard coal, cut CO₂ emissions by 46.6×10³ tons, and significantly lowered operational noise and annular pressure buildup rates.The results indicate that this system effectively mitigates ecological disturbances and pollution emissions during shale gas development, offering a replicable and scalable solution for green development in ecologically sensitive regions.It provides an important reference for advancing the clean transition of unconventional natural gas in China.