Oil Shale
Instapundit points us at this The Rocky Mountain News article:
But with crude oil above $66 a barrel at the close of trading Tuesday, oil shale is a promising alternative to crude. The Green River shale deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are estimated to contain 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels of oil, and while not all of it can be recovered, half that amount is nearly triple the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.There are a lot of fossil fuel energy reserves out there. Oil shale is just one, and the difference between these other reserves and more traditional oil fields is simply the cost of recovery. This is bad news for the alternative energy crowd, as even the more expensive oil shale (and others) is still much cheaper than solar or wind power. It is very good news for the economy and civilization in general however. Update: Welcome visitor's from the Anchoress! You might also be interested in this post of mine: Does God Protect the Righteous
posted by Dave Justus | 9/21/2005 11:39:00 AM
3 Comments:
I think the US definitely needs to diversify its sources of energy. Solar and wind are expensive, but it might become more econmical if more money were invested in research. While fossil fuels may last for the next few decades, the consequences of a nation like India or China seriously industrializing in US fashion could deplete them in less than a third of that time.
I agree with sandcastle. Looking for alternative energy sources is still a good thing, because although oil is used for a lot more than just gasoline for vehicles, anything you can do to reduce dependency on oil is a good thing.
Of course, a lot of that rests in the hands of consumers, who say they want vehicles with better fuel economy, but are quick to purchase vehicles that do not have good fuel economy,
Lots of the cars with good fuel economy are bloody useless. I grew up on a ranch. We NEEDED that big pickup.
My folks still worry about the nice, fuel-effecent tin can I have-- a neon. It gets great g/m, but if I crash at much more than 40 I'm dead. (If I'm lucky)
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