Theoretically, the oil shale in the American West could provide enough oil to power the world, Saudi-free, for decades or more. The problem is that while oil shale is a hydrocarbon, it's not a terribly attractive one. Massive amounts of energy must be used to extract useful fuel, making it a loser in terms of economics and energy balance.
Fortunately, Raytheon (makers of the missiles and radars used by the USAF) is there to save the day, via The Energy Blog:
Radio frequency (RF) energy combined with critical fluid (CF) technology shows promise for efficiently extracting oil from shale. Historically, the lack of an economical and environmentally friendly way for extracting oil from shale has kept it from being a significant energy source.
"Raytheon is an expert in RF technology," said Lee Silvestre, director of Mission Innovation at Raytheon IDS. "What makes this effort a breakthrough is that similar RF technology that we have been applying in core defense products -- radars for tracking and guidance systems -- has demonstrated applications in the energy crisis."
So good to see a mom-and-pop operation like Raytheon helping the country -- nay, the planet! -- through its environmental crisis. After all, I'm sure oil-shale harvesting will be at least as efficient as, say, the tar sands.
The military industrial complex: Fueling the ... military industrial complex since 1945!
Comments
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katesisco Posted 5:57 am
11 May 2006
Well, the above quote is frightening as the Athabaska tar sands require humungous amounts of energy to extract; the power plants have to be sited on the complex itself it uses so much energy. About the best that can be stated is that the technology should become more effient with time.
Read Beyond Hubbert's Peak by K Deffeys.
As to using ethenol, Bush wants to expand energy production (read coal fired power plants) to make ethenol. Circular reasoning here, poison the environment to use a fuel to save the environment.
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