Glenn Reynolds pointed this exciting news out this morning from Independent Media :
HAIFA, Israel, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The Israeli process for producing energy from oil shale will cut its oil imports by one-third, and will serve as a guide for other countries with oil shale deposits, according to one company.
A.F.S.K. Hom Tov presented its oil shale processing method on Tuesday, outside Haifa and just down the street from one of the country's two oil refinery facilities.
"Because the patents for this process belong to (the company), Israel is the most advanced in the world in the effort to create energy from oil shale," Moshe Shahal, a Hom Tov legal representative and a former Israeli energy minister, told United Press International.
Shahal estimated that the company's Negev Desert facility would begin full-scale production in three to four years, while other countries with oil shale deposits will need five to six years to reach production.
Oil shale is limestone rock that contains hydrocarbons, or fossil fuels -- about 20 percent of the amount of energy found in coal. Using the rock as a raw material and coating it with bitumen, a residue of the crude oil refining process, the company can produce natural gas, fuel, electricity, or a combination of the three.
Older technologies squeezed the hydrocarbon material out of the rock, with extremely high pressure and at high temperatures. According to Professor Ze'ev Aizenshtat, an oil shale expert, the Hom Tov process is more environmentally friendly than other /methods of converting oil shale into energy. It also allows for more flexibility in the kind of fuel produced, produces less waste and operates at lower temperatures than other methods...
Because fewer refining processes are necessary with oil shale than with crude oil, the final product is a higher quality fuel at a lower price, Aizenshtat said.
The company estimates it will consume 6 million tons of oil shale and 2 million tons of refinery waste each year, for an annual production of 3 million tons of product.
It would cost about $17 to produce a barrel of synthetic oil at the Hom Tov facility, meaning giant profit margins in a world of $45 to $60 per barrel crude. Yearly earnings are forecasted to be between $159 million and $350 million, Shahal said.
Yesterday, the Feds cleared the way for experimental extraction projects in Colorado.
A word of caution HERE. Naturally, the environmentalists will be against the process and make life miserable for anyone wanting to give the new process a chance.
The following from Wikipedia:
Reserves
Estimating shale oil reserves is complicated by several factors. First, the amount of kerogen contained in oil shale deposits varies considerably. Second, some nations report as reserves the total amount of kerogen in place, and do not account for what fraction might be recoverable. Third, by definition, "reserves" refers only to the amount of resource which is economically recoverable by current technology. Fourth, shale oil recovery technologies are still developing, so the amount of recoverable kerogen can only be estimated.
In order to avoid this confusion, this section reports shale oil reserves in three parts. All figures are presented in metric tons ("tonnes", equal to 2204 pounds).
Shale Reserves is an estimate of identified and assayed oil shale rock which is technically exploitable and economically feasible under current economic conditions.
Kerogen Reserves is an estimate of kerogen which may be extracted from identified and assayed oil shale rock using available technology and under current economic condiitons.
Kerogen in Place is an estimate of kerogen which is present in known and anticipated oil shale resources, regardless of technical or economic constraints. This figure is therefore speculative.
| Region | Shale Reserves | Kerogen Reserves | Kerogen in Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 12,373 | 500 | 5,900 |
| Asia | 20,570 | 1,100 | – |
| Australia | 32,400 | 1,725 | 36,985 |
| Europe | 4,180 | 300 | 6,500 |
| Middle East | 35,360 | 4,600 | 24,600 |
| North America | 3,340,000 | 80,000 | 140,000 |
| South America | – | 400 | 9,600 |
Source: World Energy Council, WEC Survey of Energy Resources
(To convert tonnes to barrels, multiply by 7. This is a reasonable approximation.) Therefore, worldwide there are approximately 620 billion barrels of known recoverable kerogen. This compares with known worldwide petroleum reserves of 1200 billion barrels (Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2006).
Africa
Major oil shale deposits are located in Morocco (12.3 billion tonnes) and South Africa (73 million tonnes).
Asia
Major oil shale deposits are located in China (260 million tonnes), Thailand (18.7 billion tonnes) and Turkey (1.6 billion tonnes). China is currently producing about 60,000 tonnes of shale oil per year.
Australia
Australia is one of the few locations currently producing kerogen from oil shale. The Stuart demonstration project is designed to produce 4,500 barrels per day of shale oil products.
Europe
Major oil shale deposits are located in Albania (6 million tonnes), Estonia (1.5 billion tonnes) and Ukraine (2.7 billion tonnes). Estonia is currently producing shale oil.
Middle East
Major oil shale deposits are located in Israel (15.4 billion tonnes) and Jordan (40 billion tonnes). Jordanian oil shales are high quality - comparable to Western US oil shale - with the exception of high sulfur content.
North America
At 3.3 trillion tonnes, the oil shale deposits in the United States are easily the largest in the world. There are two major deposits: the Eastern US deposits, located in Devonian-Mississippian shales, cover 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometers). The Western US deposits, the Green River formation in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, are among the richest oil shale deposits in the world.
South America
Brazil is also producing small amounts of shale oil. Production in 1999 was about 200,000 tonnes.
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