As mentioned earlier, natural gas, a much cleaner burning fuel than coal, is a hot commodity these days, with many new gas power plants coming online to compensate for coal plant closures, and to supplement wind and solar plants.
It turns out that Ontario and Poland have some pretty hefty shale reserves. Although the sizes of these reserves are small compared to say, Russia, they but something on the bargaining table. These gas reserves can help both Poland and Ontario economically. Shale gas is a bit of an economic risk because of it untested nature - but a calculated risk because new technology promises real value.
One problem which will have to be solved is local aquifers. Extracting this gas requires fracturing lots of rock underneath - this can harm already stressed aquifers.
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