Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of Oil Shale.docVIP

Sustainability 2011, 3, 2307-2322; doi:10.3390/su3112307 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 /journal/sustainability Article Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of Oil Shale Cutler J. Cleveland * and Peter A. O’Connor Department of Geography and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA; E-Mail: paoconn@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: cutler@; Tel.: +1-617-353-7552; Fax: + 1-617-353-5986. Received: 6 April 2011; in revised form: 4 July 2011 / Accepted: 5 August 2011 / Published: 22 November 2011 Abstract: The two methods of processing synthetic crude from organic marlstone in demonstration or small-scale commercial status in the U.S. are in situ extraction and surface retorting. The considerable uncertainty surrounding the technological characterization, resource characterization, and choice of the system boundary for oil shale operations indicate that oil shale is only a minor net energy producer if one includes internal energy (energy in the shale that is used during the process) as an energy cost. The energy return on investment (EROI) for either of these methods is roughly 1.5:1 for the final fuel product. The inclusions or omission of internal energy is a critical question. If only external energy (energy diverted from the economy to produce the fuel) is considered, EROI appears to be much higher. In comparison, fuels produced from conventional petroleum show overall EROI of approximately 4.5:1. “At the wellhead” EROI is approximately 2:1 for shale oil (again, considering internal energy) and 20:1 for petroleum. The low EROI for oil shale leads to a significant release of greenhouse gases. The large quantities of energy needed to process oil shale, combined with the thermochemistry of the retorting process, produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Oil shale unambiguously emits more greenhouse