Has technology made oil shale a more feasible energy resource today?
In most cases doing something new and important doesn’t hinge on technology, it hinges on economics. If the economic fundamentals are in place, then technology tends to rise up to meet the challenge. When President Jimmy Carter began the big oil shale push in the ’70s, he based his decision not on technology, but on the fact that oil prices were high and oil shale was economical. Technology was not a barrier. Then the Saudis flooded the oil market and dropped the price down below $10 a barrel. Well, even conventional oil wells weren’t economical at that price, so President Carter’s oil shale project failed, but it wasn’t due to a lack of technology. Brazil has produced oil from oil shale for more than 30 years with a technology that is good on air quality and it is only getting better. Estonia has successfully produced oil shale on a large commercial scale for 80 years, and we were ready to do it in the ’70s until the economics went away. So, yes, we have a number of off-the-shelf tech
