An integrated approach for exploitation block selection of shale gas—based on cloud model and grey relational analysis

Under the background of energy shortage and environmental protection, the sustainable exploitation of new energy has received great attention from all around the world. Selecting the best exploitation block is an important way for ensuring energy supply security and the sustainable development of exploration. However, due to the particularities of new energy sources and uncertainties in the exploitation process, conventional methods cannot be adapted to make optimal exploitation decisions. Although there have been many scholars making progress to improve the practicality and accuracy of assessment methods, the uncertain information has not been completely solved. A novel method based on cloud model and grey relational analysis is proposed in this paper, integrating the fortes of cloud model for dealing with uncertainty and the merits of grey relational analysis for overcoming the errors caused by small sample size. Furthermore, an illustrative example of shale gas exploitation block selection in China is conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The newly proposed approach provides both sustainable choices for green exploitation and policy supports for governors to ensure the energy security associated with the sustainable development of new energy exploration.