Investing: Oil-Shale and Tar-Sands Mining
Its all about EROEI (Energy Returned on Energy Invested)
I don’t understand! Why would anyone put money into extracting oil from shale and tar-sand? Look at the economics of this kind of operation. What is the return from investment, what is the impact on the environment, what’s with this mentality that wants to keep the oil beast alive? Put a stake in its heart and be done with it.
Recently Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett championed oil shale as a key to the nation achieving energy independence. The Senators praised the federal Bureau of Land Management for releasing a multiyear study that sets environmental rules for the extraction of Oil-Shale and Tar-sands in a three state area consisting of Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming.
To extract the oil, the current technology requires strip mining and super heating the rock to 700 -1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This process produces greenhouse gases and requires huge amounts of water, Three Barrels of water to One Barrel of oil, and, oh, I almost forgot to mention the ground water contamination.
According to a report published by the Rand Corporation titled “Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment” they state: “Land Use and Ecological Impacts. Regardless of the technical approach to oil shale development, a portion of the land over the Green River Formation will need to be withdrawn from current uses, and there could be permanent topographic changes and impacts on flora and fauna.”
Air Quality- Oil shale operations will result in emissions that could impact regional air quality.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions-The production of petroleum products derived from oil shale will entail significantly higher emissions of carbon dioxide, compared with conventional crude oil production. If these emissions are to be controlled, oil shale production costs will increase.
Water Quality- All high-grade western oil shale resources lie in the Colorado River drainage basin. For mining and surface retorting, the major water quality issue is the leaching of salts and toxics from spent shale.”
I guess the old adage “A fool and his money are soon parted” holds true here.
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