Document Information
Oil Shale Development in the United States
Prospects and Policy Issues
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when crude oil prices were high, government and private-sector energy experts took a hard look at the costs and benefits of extracting oil from the vast deposits of oil shale that lie beneath the western United States (much of it under government land). Oil prices soon subsided, and interest in the topic waned. With oil prices again spiking and global demand showing no signs of abating, it makes sense to reexamine the costs and benefits of oil shale development. In this report, the authors describe the oil shale resources (estimated at more than triple the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia); the suitability, cost, and performance of technologies for developing these resources; and the key energy, environmental, land-use, and socioeconomic policy issues that need to be addressed by government decisionmakers. The authors conclude by outlining both the challenges and opportunities for early action with regard to those policy issues.
See Also:
Support RAND Research — Buy This Product!
Paperback Cover Price: $20.00
Discounted Web Price: $18.00
Pages: 88
ISBN/EAN: 0-8330-3848-6
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service. If you find this information valuable, please consider purchasing a paper copy of the full document to help support RAND research.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
The U.S. Oil Shale Resource Base
Chapter Three:
Oil Shale Technologies
Chapter Four:
The Strategic Significance of Oil Shale
Chapter Five:
Critical Policy Issues for Oil Shale Development
Chapter Six:
The Development Path for Oil Shale
Appendix:
Cost Estimation Methodology and Assumptions
The research described in this report was conducted within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (ISE), a division of the RAND Corporation, for the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.
This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.
Top
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2008 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: December 07, 2007 