“Every 24 hours the industry burns enough natural gas to heat four million American homes in order to produce one million barrels of oil.”

“The Canadian government recently estimated that it might take 20 nuclear reactors to replace natural gas as a fuel source in tar-sands operations by 2015, and companies are already putting forth proposals to build them.”

And this is just the energy consumed at one tar sands project. Is this the future of our West? How lucrative does this become if oil is at $200 a barrel?

The kerogen in oil shale is “retorted” out by pyrolysis. Pryrolysis heats the oil shale to 450–500 °C !! in the absence of air to drive the kerogen out.

Kerogen isn’t oil and further processing is needed.

This extremely high temperature has got to take a massive about of energy.

Anybody know the estimate for the oil shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado?

Simply put, the costs are extreme and these projects should never have even broken ground. Like any addiction, our oil addiction causes us to do things that are against our long-term self-interest. And this may be the worst example.

I posted this before, but it’s another good article on this subject. If you haven’t read this yet, check it out, too.

http://www.onearth.org/article/canadas-highway-to-hell