Energy inputs and
greenhouse gas emissions analysis of synthetic crude oil produced from Green
River oil shale
Adam R. Brandt
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Oil shale is seen as a potential “backstop”
resource, or a resource that will be relied upon when conventional reserves
of oil are depleted. It is abundant and domestically available. These factors
are behind the current effort underway within the Bureau of Land
Management to support oil shale R&D. Oil shale production has historically entailed a
heavy environmental burden, with traditional methods of production emitting
high levels of criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gases. This analysis
compares two oil shale production processes. The first is the in-situ
conversion process (ICP), developed by Shell oil. The second is a mine
and retort process using an open pit mine and the Alberta
Taciuk Processor, or ATP, retort. In these analyses, I first estimate the energy
inputs and outputs of the oil shale production process. Second, I calculate
the greenhouse gas emissions from these two processes. Working papers: Converting Green River oil shale to liquid fuels
with the Shell in situ conversion process: energy inputs and greenhouse gas
emissions - Paper submitted to Environmental
Science and Technology (2/21/08) Converting Green River oil shale to liquid fuels
with the Alberta Taciuk Processor: energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions
– Paper submitted to Energy & Fuels (7/1/09) Presentations: This work was presented at the 27th Oil Shale
Symposium, Colorado School of Mines, October 17th, 2007 [pdf of
presentation]. Press: A short
piece on oil shale in Environmental Science and Technology featuring my
working papers. |
An array
of freeze wall holes in a Shell oil freeze wall test. Photo by David Hawkins,
used with permission. |
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Last updated: 2/20/08