Oil Shales

1. Oil Shales Mitchell Page & Jared Pullen

2. Intermittency It is available as long as the deposits are able to be extracted. So it can be produced whenever it is needed. It is reliable due to the fact that as long as the size of the deposit is known you can predict how much energy you can create. Unlike sources such as wind power you are in control of how much you produce. Reliability

3. Ease of storage Once extracted and processed oil shale is relatively easy to store compared to other methods materials such as Uranium. Deposits can be found globally , the estimated amount of deposits is between 2.8 and 3.3 trillion barrels. Available resource

4. Geographical and Location factors To extract oil shale it is necessary to build a mine therefore it can only be extracted in areas which can support a mine. However there are deposits world wide, so locating a mining site is possible. Countries do not have to be particularly technologically advanced to utilize oil shale. It is available worldwide from places such as Estonia and Brazil to Germany and Russia. Level of technological development

5. Environmental Impact The mines from which the oil shales are extracted from are ugly and scar the landscape. Also it is more environmentally damaging than conventional crude oil production. Oil shale processing produces a lot of carbon dioxide. If a government is very environmentally aware they will most likely discourage the use of oil shale as it is quite polluting. Political + International Trade issues

6. Economic Issues Extracting oil from oil shale is more expensive than the production of conventional crude oil. It can be used in the production of things like carbon fibre and glass. Some power stations have been designed and made to run on only oil shale. Applicability to a Particular use