Coal is an abundant fossil resource that consists mostly of carbon. Energy content (Btu/pound) ranges from 5,000 to 15,000 depending on the type of coal. Coal reserves are located all over the world. Electric utilities consume about 87 percent of the total coal produced. In the United States, coal is used to generate more than half of all the electricity produced. It is also used as a basic energy source in many industries, and as a heating fuel. The U.S. is one of the top exporters of coal in the world. Most exported U.S. coal goes to Western Europe, Canada, and Japan. Coal is recovered from the earth by surface mining or deep mining. Surface mining, or strip mining, is less expensive and usually occurs on flat land. Deep mining requires digging shafts and tunnels to get to the coal seam. Automation of deep mining has helped to counter its safety and health hazards. Coal can be gasified to form a synthetic fuel similar to natural gas. It can also be liquefied to make a synthetic crude oil. To date, it has not been economical to make synthetic fuels from coal on a large scale. As processes become more efficient, the use of synthetic fuels may become more economical. OilOil comes from crude oil, which is a mix of hydrocarbons with some oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur impurities. One barrel of oil (42 U.S. gallons) can provide about 6 million Btu. Crude oil reserves are found all over the world, but the Middle East alone has about 63 percent of the known reserves. Of the oil consumed in the United States, most is used in transportation, and much of the rest goes to industrial, commercial, and residential uses. Crude oil is used to produce not only a range of fuels, but also petrochemical ingredients for plastics, inks, tires, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other products. High-tech oil exploration technology and practices have led to the discovery of as many new reserves as have already been used. To make the most of this valuable resource, energy producers are developing more efficient refining methods, product makers are finding more efficient ways to use petrochemicals, and manufacturers are developing more efficient cars. New techniques of locating and extracting oil from the earth are also making it possible to recover oil that was once too expensive to produce. Oil is usually recovered by drilling wells through the non-porous rock barrier that traps the oil. In general, about 30 percent of the oil trapped can be economically recovered by pumping. "Secondary" recovery can remove another 10 percent, by flooding the well with high-pressure water or gas. Another 10 percent can sometimes be recovered with "tertiary" methods that heat the oil to scrub it out. About half of the oil is left trapped in the rock. Oil producers are continually seeking economical ways to recover more of this oil. The oil refining process separates crude oil into different hydrocarbons and removes impurities such as sulfur, nitrogen, and heavy metals. The first step is fractional distillation, a process that takes advantage of the fact that different hydrocarbons boil at different temperatures. In a tall tower called a fractionating column, crude oil is heated until it boils. Horizontal trays divide the column at intervals. As the oil boils, it vaporizes. Each hydrocarbon rises to a tray at a temperature just below its own boiling point. There, it cools and turns back into a liquid. The lightest fractions are liquefied petroleum gases (propane and butane) and the petrochemicals used to make plastics, fabrics, and a wide array of consumer products. Next come gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel. Heavier fractions make home heating oil and fuel for ships and factories. Still heavier fractions are made into lubricants and waxes. The remains include asphalt. The refining process then continues, with heavy fractions converted into lighter fractions. In most cases, "cracking" processes are used to transform large (heavy) hydrocarbon molecules and make the smaller, lighter molecules such as gasoline and jet fuel. Better refining technologies have made it possible to produce over 21 gallons of gasoline from a 42-gallon barrel of crude oil—a remarkable advance over the industry’s early days, when a barrel of oil yielded just 11 gallons of gasoline. Oil shale was never buried deeply enough or heated enough to form crude oil. Its hydrogen content is between that of coal and crude oil. Concentrations of oil are low, so that, at most, one barrel of oil can be recovered from 2.4 tons of sand or 1.5 tons of rock. Huge amounts of oil shale are found all over the world. In fact, the total global resource is 1,000 times greater than crude oil reserves. But extracting the energy value of oil shale is not practical today. Scientists and engineers continue working on ways to recover oil shale for a reasonable cost. Natural gasNatural gas is the gas component of coal and oil formation. It is used in industrial and commercial heating and cooking, and, increasingly, to fuel electricity generation. In a compressed form, natural gas can also be used as a transportation fuel. Natural gas is either found mixed in oil or is released from coal. Energy in 6,000 cubic feet of natural gas is equivalent to one barrel of oil. World reserves of natural gas are greatest in Russian, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. The U.S. consumed 19.7 million cubic feet of natural gas in 1999, nearly all of which came from domestic production. Five states—Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma—hold more than 85 percent of U.S. natural gas reserves. Wells for natural gas are drilled in underground reservoirs of porous rock. When it is removed from a reservoir, natural gas can either be pumped to the processing station for removal of liquid hydrocarbons, sulfur, carbon dioxide, and other components, or stored in large caverns underground until it is needed. Pipelines are the main method of transporting natural gas. Natural gas can also be liquefied and shipped overseas, but this process is complex and expensive. Electrical generation by natural gas has been improved by the development of combined-cycle systems. These systems put together a natural-gas-fueled combustion turbine with a heat-recovery steam generator and steam turbine, to produce electricity in two ways rather than just one. The result: roughly 60 percent of the heat from the natural gas is harnessed to make electricity, creating a more energy-efficient system.
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitutes inorganic substance and bitumens. Based on their deposition environment, oil shales are classified as marine, lacustrine and terrestrial oil shales.[1][2] Oil shales differ from oil-bearing shales, shale deposits that contain petroleum (tight oil) that is sometimes produced from drilled wells. Examples of oil-bearing shales are the Bakken Formation, Pierre Shale, Niobrara Formation, and Eagle Ford Formation.[3] Accordingly, shale oil produced from oil shale should not be confused with tight oil, which is also frequently called shale oil.[3][4][5]
Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States. A 2016 estimate of global deposits set the total world resources of oil shale equivalent of 6.05 trillion barrels (962 billion cubic metres) of oil in place.[6] Oil shale has gained attention as a potential abundant source of oil.[7][8] However, the various attempts to develop oil shale deposits have had limited success. Only Estonia and China have well-established oil shale industries, and Brazil, Germany, and Russia utilize oil shale to some extent.[9] Oil shale can be burned directly in furnaces as a low-grade fuel for power generation and district heating or used as a raw material in chemical and construction-materials processing.[1] Heating oil shale to a sufficiently high temperature causes the chemical process of pyrolysis to yield a vapor. Upon cooling the vapor, the liquid unconventional oil, called shale oil, is separated from combustible oil-shale gas. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil is costlier than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact.[10] Oil-shale mining and processing raise a number of environmental concerns, such as land use, waste disposal, water use, waste-water management, greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution.[11][12] Outcrop of Ordovician oil shale (kukersite), northern Estonia Oil shale, an organic-rich sedimentary rock, belongs to the group of sapropel fuels.[13] It does not have a definite geological definition nor a specific chemical formula, and its seams do not always have discrete boundaries. Oil shales vary considerably in their mineral content, chemical composition, age, type of kerogen, and depositional history, and not all oil shales would necessarily be classified as shales in the strict sense.[14][15] According to the petrologist Adrian C. Hutton of the University of Wollongong, oil shales are not "geological nor geochemically distinctive rock but rather 'economic' term".[16] Their common defining feature is low solubility in low-boiling organic solvents and generation of liquid organic products on thermal decomposition.[17] Geologists can classify oil shales on the basis of their composition as carbonate-rich shales, siliceous shales, or cannel shales.[18] Oil shale differs from bitumen-impregnated rocks (oil sands and petroleum reservoir rocks), humic coals and carbonaceous shale. While oil sands do originate from the biodegradation of oil, heat and pressure have not (yet) transformed the kerogen in oil shale into petroleum, which means its maturation does not exceed early mesocatagenetic.[17][19][20] Oil shales differ also from oil-bearing shales, shale deposits that contain tight oil that is sometimes produced from drilled wells. Examples of oil-bearing shales are the Bakken Formation, Pierre Shale, Niobrara Formation, and Eagle Ford Formation.[3] Accordingly, shale oil produced from oil shale should not be confused with tight oil, which is called also frequently shale oil.[3][4][5] General composition of oil shales constitutes inorganic matrix, bitumens, and kerogen. While the bitumen portion of oil shales is soluble in carbon disulfide, the kerogen portion is insoluble in carbon disulfide and may contain iron, vanadium, nickel, molybdenum, and uranium.[21][22] Oil shale contains a lower percentage of organic matter than coal. In commercial grades of oil shale the ratio of organic matter to mineral matter lies approximately between 0.75:5 and 1.5:5. At the same time, the organic matter in oil shale has an atomic ratio of hydrogen to carbon (H/C) approximately 1.2 to 1.8 times lower than for crude oil and about 1.5 to 3 times higher than for coals.[13][23][24] The organic components of oil shale derive from a variety of organisms, such as the remains of algae, spores, pollen, plant cuticles and corky fragments of herbaceous and woody plants, and cellular debris from other aquatic and land plants.[23][25] Some deposits contain significant fossils; Germany's Messel Pit has the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mineral matter in oil shale includes various fine-grained silicates and carbonates.[1][13] Inorganic matrix can contain quartz, feldspar, clay (mainly illite and chlorite), carbonate (calcite and dolomite), pyrite and some other minerals.[22] Another classification, known as the van Krevelen diagram, assigns kerogen types, depending on the hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen content of oil shales' original organic matter.[15] The most commonly used classification of oil shales, developed between 1987 and 1991 by Adrian C. Hutton, adapts petrographic terms from coal terminology. This classification designates oil shales as terrestrial, lacustrine (lake-bottom-deposited), or marine (ocean bottom-deposited), based on the environment of the initial biomass deposit.[1][2] Known oil shales are predominantly of aquatic (marine, lacustrine) origin.[17][2] Hutton's classification scheme has proven useful in estimating the yield and composition of the extracted oil.[26] Fossils in Ordovician oil shale (kukersite), northern Estonia As source rocks for most conventional oil reservoirs, oil shale deposits are found in all world oil provinces, although most of them are too deep to be exploited economically.[27] As with all oil and gas resources, analysts distinguish between oil shale resources and oil shale reserves. "Resources" refer to all oil shale deposits, while "reserves" represent those deposits from which producers can extract oil shale economically using existing technology. Since extraction technologies develop continuously, planners can only estimate the amount of recoverable kerogen.[10][1] Although resources of oil shale occur in many countries, only 33 countries possess known deposits of potential economic value.[28][29] Well-explored deposits, potentially classifiable as reserves, include the Green River deposits in the western United States, the Tertiary deposits in Queensland, Australia, deposits in Sweden and Estonia, the El-Lajjun deposit in Jordan, and deposits in France, Germany, Brazil, China, southern Mongolia and Russia. These deposits have given rise to expectations of yielding at least 40 liters of shale oil per tonne of oil shale, using the Fischer Assay.[1][15] A 2016 estimate set the total world resources of oil shale equivalent to yield of 6.05 trillion barrels (962 billion cubic metres) of shale oil, with the largest resource deposits in the United States accounting more than 80% of the world total resource.[6] For comparison, at the same time the world's proven oil reserves are estimated to be 1.6976 trillion barrels (269.90 billion cubic metres).[30] The largest deposits in the world occur in the United States in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; about 70% of this resource lies on land owned or managed by the United States federal government.[31] Deposits in the United States constitute more than 80% of world resources; other significant resource holders being China, Russia, and Brazil.[6] The amount of economically recoverable oil shale is unknown.[27] Production of oil shale in millions of metric tons, from 1880 to 2010. Source: Pierre Allix, Alan K. Burnham.[32] Humans have used oil shale as a fuel since prehistoric times, since it generally burns without any processing.[33] Around 3000 BC, "rock oil" was used in Mesopotamia for road construction and making architectural adhesives.[34] Britons of the Iron Age used to polish it and form it into ornaments.[35] In the 10th century, the Arab physician Masawaih al-Mardini (Mesue the Younger) described a method of extraction of oil from "some kind of bituminous shale".[36] The first patent for extracting oil from oil shale was British Crown Patent 330 granted in 1694 to Martin Eele, Thomas Hancock and William Portlock, who had "found a way to extract and make great quantities of pitch, tarr, and oyle out of a sort of stone".[34][37][38] Modern industrial mining of oil shale began in 1837 in Autun, France, followed by exploitation in Scotland, Germany, and several other countries.[39][40] Operations during the 19th century focused on the production of kerosene, lamp oil, and paraffin; these products helped supply the growing demand for lighting that arose during the Industrial Revolution.[41] Fuel oil, lubricating oil and grease, and ammonium sulfate were also produced.[42] The European oil-shale industry expanded immediately before World War I because of limited access to conventional petroleum resources and the mass production of automobiles and trucks, which accompanied an increase in gasoline consumption. Autun oil shale mines Although the Estonian and Chinese oil-shale industries continued to grow after World War II, most other countries abandoned their projects because of high processing costs and the availability of cheaper petroleum.[1][40][43][44] Following the 1973 oil crisis, world production of oil shale reached a peak of 46 million tonnes in 1980 before falling to about 16 million tonnes in 2000, because of competition from cheap conventional petroleum in the 1980s.[11][28] On 2 May 1982, known in some circles as "Black Sunday", Exxon canceled its US$5 billion Colony Shale Oil Project near Parachute, Colorado, because of low oil prices and increased expenses, laying off more than 2,000 workers and leaving a trail of home foreclosures and small business bankruptcies.[45] In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, which among other things abolished the United States' Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program.[46] The global oil-shale industry began to revive at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2003, an oil-shale development program restarted in the United States. Authorities introduced a commercial leasing program permitting the extraction of oil shale and oil sands on federal lands in 2005, in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005.[47][48] Shell's experimental in-situ oil-shale facility, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA As of 2008[update], oil shale is utilized primarily in Brazil, China, Estonia and to some extent in Germany, and Russia. Several additional countries started assessing their reserves or had built experimental production plants, while others had phased out their oil shale industry.[9] Oil shale serves for oil production in Estonia, Brazil, and China; for power generation in Estonia, China, and Germany; for cement production in Estonia, Germany, and China; and for use in chemical industries in China, Estonia, and Russia.[9][44][49][50] As of 2009[update], 80% of oil shale used globally is extracted in Estonia, mainly because Estonia uses several oil-shale-fired power plants,[49][51] which has an installed capacity of 2,967 megawatts (MW). By comparison, China's oil shale power plants have an installed capacity of 12 MW, and Germany's have 9.9 MW.[28][52] A 470 MW oil shale power plant in Jordan is under construction as of 2020.[53] Israel, Romania and Russia have in the past run power plants fired by oil shale but have shut them down or switched to other fuel sources such as natural gas.[9][28][54] Other countries, such as Egypt, have had plans to construct power plants fired by oil shale, while Canada and Turkey had plans to burn oil shale along with coal for power generation.[28][55] Oil shale serves as the main fuel for power generation only in Estonia, where 90.3% of country's electrical generation in 2016 was produced from oil shale.[56] According to the World Energy Council, in 2008 the total production of shale oil from oil shale was 930,000 tonnes, equal to 17,700 barrels per day (2,810 m3/d), of which China produced 375,000 tonnes, Estonia 355,000 tonnes, and Brazil 200,000 tonnes.[57] In comparison, production of the conventional oil and natural gas liquids in 2008 amounted 3.95 billion tonnes or 82.1 million barrels per day (13.1×10^6 m3/d).[58] Overview of shale oil extraction. Mining of oil shale. VKG Ojamaa. Most exploitation of oil shale involves mining followed by shipping elsewhere, after which the shale is burned directly to generate electricity or undertakes further processing. The most common methods of mining involve open-pit mining and strip mining. These procedures remove most of the overlying material to expose the deposits of oil shale and become practical when the deposits occur near the surface. Underground mining of oil shale, which removes less of the overlying material, employs the room-and-pillar method.[59] The extraction of the useful components of oil shale usually takes place above ground (ex-situ processing), although several newer technologies perform this underground (on-site or in-situ processing).[60] In either case, the chemical process of pyrolysis converts the kerogen in the oil shale to shale oil (synthetic crude oil) and oil shale gas. Most conversion technologies involve heating shale in the absence of oxygen to a temperature at which kerogen decomposes (pyrolyses) into gas, condensable oil, and a solid residue. This usually takes place between 450 °C (842 °F) and 500 °C (932 °F).[10] The process of decomposition begins at relatively low temperatures (300 °C or 572 °F) but proceeds more rapidly and more completely at higher temperatures.[61] In-situ processing involves heating the oil shale underground. Such technologies can potentially extract more oil from a given area of land than ex-situ processes, since they can access the material at greater depths than surface mines can. Several companies have patented methods for in-situ retorting. However, most of these methods remain in the experimental phase. Two in-situ processes could be used: true in-situ processing does not involve mining the oil shale, while modified in-situ processing involves removing part of the oil shale and bringing it to the surface for modified in-situ retorting in order to create permeability for gas flow in a rubble chimney. Explosives rubblize the oil-shale deposit.[62] Hundreds of patents for oil shale retorting technologies exist;[63] however, only a few dozen have undergone testing. By 2006, only four technologies remained in commercial use: Kiviter, Galoter, Fushun, and Petrosix.[64] Oil shale is utilized as a fuel for thermal power-plants, burning it (like coal) to drive steam turbines; some of these plants employ the resulting heat for district heating of homes and businesses. In addition to its use as a fuel, oil shale may also serve in the production of specialty carbon fibers, adsorbent carbons, carbon black, phenols, resins, glues, tanning agents, mastic, road bitumen, cement, bricks, construction and decorative blocks, soil-additives, fertilizers, rock-wool insulation, glass, and pharmaceutical products.[49] However, oil shale use for production of these items remains small or only in experimental development.[1][65] Some oil shales yield sulfur, ammonia, alumina, soda ash, uranium, and nahcolite as shale-oil extraction byproducts. Between 1946 and 1952, a marine type of Dictyonema shale served for uranium production in Sillamäe, Estonia, and between 1950 and 1989 Sweden used alum shale for the same purposes.[1] Oil shale gas has served as a substitute for natural gas, but as of 2009[update], producing oil shale gas as a natural-gas substitute remained economically infeasible.[66][67] The shale oil derived from oil shale does not directly substitute for crude oil in all applications. It may contain higher concentrations of olefins, oxygen, and nitrogen than conventional crude oil.[46] Some shale oils may have higher sulfur or arsenic content. By comparison with West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark standard for crude oil in the futures-contract market, the Green River shale oil sulfur content ranges from near 0% to 4.9% (in average 0.76%), where West Texas Intermediate's sulfur content has a maximum of 0.42%.[68] The sulfur content in shale oil from Jordan's oil shales may be as high as 9.5%.[69] The arsenic content, for example, becomes an issue for Green River formation oil shale. The higher concentrations of these materials means that the oil must undergo considerable upgrading (hydrotreating) before serving as oil-refinery feedstock.[70] Above-ground retorting processes tended to yield a lower API gravity shale oil than the in situ processes. Shale oil serves best for producing middle-distillates such as kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel fuel. Worldwide demand for these middle distillates, particularly for diesel fuels, increased rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s.[46][71] However, appropriate refining processes equivalent to hydrocracking can transform shale oil into a lighter-range hydrocarbon (gasoline).[46] 360° panoramic view of a Enefit280 plant in Estonia, that processes 280 tonnes of oil shale in an hour The various attempts to develop oil shale deposits have succeeded only when the cost of shale-oil production in a given region comes in below the price of crude oil or its other substitutes (break-even price). According to a 2005 survey, conducted by the RAND Corporation, the cost of producing a barrel of oil at a surface retorting complex in the United States (comprising a mine, retorting plant, upgrading plant, supporting utilities, and spent shale reclamation), would range between US$70–95 ($440–600/m3, adjusted to 2005 values). This estimate considers varying levels of kerogen quality and extraction efficiency. In order to run a profitable operation, the price of crude oil would need to remain above these levels. The analysis also discussed the expectation that processing costs would drop after the establishment of the complex. The hypothetical unit would see a cost reduction of 35–70% after producing its first 500 million barrels (79 million cubic metres). Assuming an increase in output of 25 thousand barrels per day (4.0×10^3 m3/d) during each year after the start of commercial production, RAND predicted the costs would decline to $35–48 per barrel ($220–300/m3) within 12 years. After achieving the milestone of 1 billion barrels (160 million cubic metres), its costs would decline further to $30–40 per barrel ($190–250/m3).[49][59] In 2010, the International Energy Agency estimated, based on the various pilot projects, that investment and operating costs would be similar to those of Canadian oil sands, that means would be economic at prices above $60 per barrel at current costs. This figure does not account carbon pricing, which will add additional cost.[27] According to the New Policies Scenario introduced in its World Energy Outlook 2010, a price of $50 per tonne of emitted CO2 adds additional $7.50 cost per barrel of shale oil.[27] As of November 2021, the price of tonne of CO2 exceeded $60. A 1972 publication in the journal Pétrole Informations (ISSN 0755-561X) compared shale-based oil production unfavorably with coal liquefaction. The article portrayed coal liquefaction as less expensive, generating more oil, and creating fewer environmental impacts than extraction from oil shale. It cited a conversion ratio of 650 liters (170 U.S. gal; 140 imp gal) of oil per one ton of coal, as against 150 liters (40 U.S. gal; 33 imp gal) of shale oil per one ton of oil shale.[40] A critical measure of the viability of oil shale as an energy source lies in the ratio of the energy produced by the shale to the energy used in its mining and processing, a ratio known as "energy return on investment" (EROI). A 1984 study estimated the EROI of the various known oil-shale deposits as varying between 0.7–13.3,[72] although known oil-shale extraction development projects assert an EROI between 3 and 10. According to the World Energy Outlook 2010, the EROI of ex-situ processing is typically 4 to 5 while of in-situ processing it may be even as low as 2. However, according to the IEA most of used energy can be provided by burning the spent shale or oil-shale gas.[27] To increase efficiency when retorting oil shale, researchers have proposed and tested several co-pyrolysis processes.[73][74][75] Mining oil shale involves numerous environmental impacts, more pronounced in surface mining than in underground mining.[76] These include acid drainage induced by the sudden rapid exposure and subsequent oxidation of formerly buried materials; the introduction of metals including mercury[77] into surface-water and groundwater; increased erosion, sulfur-gas emissions; and air pollution caused by the production of particulates during processing, transport, and support activities.[11][12] Oil-shale extraction can damage the biological and recreational value of land and the ecosystem in the mining area. Combustion and thermal processing generate waste material. In addition, the atmospheric emissions from oil shale processing and combustion include carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Environmentalists oppose production and usage of oil shale, as it creates even more greenhouse gases than conventional fossil fuels.[78] Experimental in situ conversion processes and carbon capture and storage technologies may reduce some of these concerns in the future, but at the same time they may cause other problems, including groundwater pollution.[79] Among the water contaminants commonly associated with oil shale processing are oxygen and nitrogen heterocyclic hydrocarbons. Commonly detected examples include quinoline derivatives, pyridine, and various alkyl homologues of pyridine, such as picoline and lutidine.[80] Water concerns are sensitive issues in arid regions, such as the western U.S. and Israel's Negev Desert, where plans exist to expand oil-shale extraction despite a water shortage.[81] Depending on technology, above-ground retorting uses between one and five barrels of water per barrel of produced shale-oil.[59][82][83][84] A 2008 programmatic environmental impact statement issued by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management stated that surface mining and retort operations produce 2 to 10 U.S. gallons (7.6 to 37.9 l; 1.7 to 8.3 imp gal) of waste water per 1 short ton (0.91 t) of processed oil shale.[82] In situ processing, according to one estimate, uses about one-tenth as much water.[85] Environmental activists, including members of Greenpeace, have organized strong protests against the oil shale industry. In one result, Queensland Energy Resources put the proposed Stuart Oil Shale Project in Australia on hold in 2004.[11][86] Some comets contain massive amounts of an organic material almost identical to high grade oil shale, the equivalent of cubic kilometers of such mixed with other material;[87] for instance, corresponding hydrocarbons were detected in a probe fly-by through the tail of Halley's Comet in 1986.[88]
Listen to this article (29 minutes) This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 26 May 2008 (2008-05-26), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oil shale.
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article "Bituminous Shales".
|