什么是油页岩?

油页岩不应与“页岩油”混淆,也叫“致密油”,” a more commonly produced type of unconventional oil that's found trapped in limestone or sandstone rocks.

Because oil shale requires mining and energy-intensive refining processes, it's a substantially dirtier energy source than conventional liquid oil. 估计, but turning oil shale into gasoline or diesel may lead to three or more times as many heat-trapping gas emissions than conventional oil.

目前, oil shale is not a commercially viable product in most of the world, as the same processes that make it dirty also make it expensive. 在美国, 最大的油页岩矿床位于科罗拉多州, 犹他州, 和怀俄明州, 但是相对来说还是保持不变的.

油页岩对环境的影响

油页岩可以通过地表开采, 地下, 或者“原地”采矿, in which kerogen is heated 地下 and pumped to the surface. All these techniques demand significantly more energy than what's required for conventional liquid oil, producing more air and global warming pollution as a result.

水污染是另一个问题, 随着泄漏, 泄漏, and runoff from mining operations may interfere with groundwater supplies. And when extracted oil is shipped to refineries for processing, 卡车, 火车, and pipelines that transport it introduce their own environmental impacts.

解决方案:一半的油

Cutting US oil use is a better energy solution than increasing production of oil, especially when that production comes from extremely energy-intensive resources like oil shale. Cleaner fuels and fuel efficient cars and trucks can reduce the amount of oil we use—and avoid unconventional oil’s worst impacts—all while benefitting drivers, 环境, 还有经济.

与此同时, operators and the oil industry should be held accountable for the emissions associated with different types of oil production, avoiding or mitigating additional emissions and impacts as much as possible. What oil we do use doesn't have to come from the dirtiest unconventional sources like oil shale, 煤转油资源, 或者焦油砂.