Recent content by Salamander

As I said above one of the major problems with oil shale is that the characteristics of the oil shale itself (eg its high carbon content which means high CO2 emissions) means there will be pretty major environmental impacts irrespective of the technology used. So I doubt whether there is such a...

Agree that large-scale renewables are required - I think it's a question of utilising both large-scale & small-scale building-integrated renewables as appropriate

Shell's process requires a 1000ft layer of shale to be continually heated to 650-750 ° F for a period of around 3 years while a freezewall is maintained around it to prevent groundwater intrusion. Having apparently originally said the energy return was 6:1, Shell now say it is 3.5:1, although...

And the likelihood of renewables remaining in the distant future is high if we continue pumping millions/billions of dollars into fossil fuels, especially if we're opening up major new resources like oil shale. Nearly $400m was spent on the Stuart Project, which as I said above never broke...

I would fully expect QER to say that the technology they are planning to use is much more efficient & more environmentally friendly than SPP's technology. However, there seems to be very little information available about QER's technology, so it's impossible to judge whether it will be...

Apparently it was more than $130m over-budget when it shut down & had never even broken even, let alone been profitable, despite receiving a Government subsidy of nearly $55 for ever barrel it produced!

The Queensland Sunday Mail newspaper (Sunday version of the Courier Mail) has come out opposing shale oil in an editorial last weekend - see the last paragraph below Sunday Mail July 20, 2008 Editorial Our greenhouse must be in order with energy sources THE discovery of what could be...

The headline of this article is wrong - the Bakken shale formation is not oil shale, but just contains conventional oil beneath a layer of 'normal' (not oil) shale although it requires an unconventional horizontal drilling technique to reach it. Some in the US media have also incorrectly...

Don't think that's possible as it seems the plant equipment has been sold - see sale brochure. One report said it was most likely to be sold off for scrap. Not great considering it apparently cost around $380m.

I haven't seen much at all from the ones I've looked at. Apparently Innovest Strategic Value Advisors (www.innovestgroup.com) were commissioned by Greenpeace in 2001 to look at this as part of their campaign against the Stuart Oil Shale Project in Australia & found the cost would be a minimum...