Quote:
Originally Posted by murdoc9
I always thought Cannon was an idiot when I lived out there. There is no way that Shale can be developed for anywhere near the $30/barrel level. The problems have to do with water, pollution, and most importantly (in terms of cost) energy needed to convert into usable hydrocarbon fuel. Think about how much fuel must be used to power the conversion process and then think about the costs of those inputs. With the additional spectre of pollution controls coming online, most likely in a cap a trade type system which all the presidential candidates support, this looks like a dog.
Cannon is pandering to his constituency, and someone needs to vote that clown out of office.
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Murdoc: 30 years ago, you would have been exactly right in your criticism of producing usable oil out of shale. But technology has changed, dramatically. In addition, there is a ratio that is used to calculate the energy value per acre(fossil fuels, including crude oil). I'm not sure how the ratio is derived (I read it, but I don't understand it). But to give you an idea of how much energy is locked up in the eastern Utah shale, the richest energy field in the WORLD is Campbell County WY (think Gillette and Sheridan WY coal), with a ratio of .5 (the higher number, the better). Many of the oil shale deposits in Utah are at 2.5, 5 times the value in Campbell Co!!!!!!
I agree with your assessment of Congressman Cannon. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But it appears, to paraphrase Shakespeare, "Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while."