What is Enough?

Everyone of us wakes up and turns on the faucet, hoping water will flow out, but most of us don't think about the how much water we use on a daily basis.  We don't consisder if there is a scarcity of water out there or not.  In a recent article, Oil Shale expert says Obama administration stalling much the way Bush dragged feet on climate change, written by David O. Williams, Dr. Jeremy Boak from Colorado School of Mines expresses his views about the development of oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.  The article debates when is there enough answers to move ahead with the development of oil shale, addressing the issue with water, energy, and the environment.

During the process of heating shale rock to extract organic kerogen and refining it into oil consumes a large deal of water and energy.  Right now Shell Oil says they can produce about 1 bbl of oil from about 3 bbl of water; Boak believes after research and improved technology that this ratio can be one to one.  The article also discusses how the produced natural gas can power the refinery plants to produce oil from the shale rock.  The government, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, states the BLM needs to have a better idea of the "amount of power needed, water needed and the impact to wildlife habitat and watersheds" before commercially exploiting the Green River Formation for oil shale and opening up around 2 million acres of BLM land for research and development. 

“It is a distortion to say we have to have an answer about water use because we have an answer about water use and either that answer is good enough – that three barrels per barrel is something we can live with – or it isn’t,” Boak said. “If it isn’t, then it’s incumbent on both the government of Colorado and the federal government to say why it isn’t and to say what is OK, and they have completely evaded that responsibility.”

Agreeing with Boak, when will the answer be evident?  What is good enough? And why is it not good enough?  Gas prices are rising drastically and domestic oil is more important than ever.  The government needs to take the steps forward.  Petroleum companies will continue to research and develop technology associated with oil shale, improving processes shown in a previous post (EPICC).