Stanford team proposes method for electricity production from oil shale with in situ carbon capture

[FBaggins]

System diagram of EPICC process. Electricity generation in subsurface provides the heat requirement for retorting. Separation of gaseous from liquid HCs can occur in the subsurface at a condensation front or in above ground separation with reinjection. Credit: ACS, Mulchandani and Brandt. Click to enlarge.

A team at Stanford University is proposing using solid oxide fuel cells as the basis for a method for electricity production from oil shale with in situ carbon capture (EPICC) as a means to provide transportation services from oil shale with greatly reduced CO2 emissions.

In a paper published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, Hiren Mulchandani and Adam Brandt note that oil shale contains large amounts of stored chemical energy—more than 1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent is present in the Green River formation of the United States alone. However, liquid hydrocarbon (HC) fuels derived from oil shale have ~1.2-1.75 times the GHG emissions of HC fuels produced from conventional oil on a full-fuel-cycle (well-to-wheels) basis. These emissions consist almost entirely of carbon dioxide, with minor emissions of methane.

These emissions estimates raise a question: is the energy content of shale effectively “off limits” in a GHG constrained world, or is there a way to extract the stored chemical energy from oil shale with greatly reduced CO2 emissions?—Mulchandani and Brandt

http://www.ongreen.com/news/stanford-team-proposes-method-electricity-production-oil-shale-situ-carbon-capture-provide-tran

[NYC_SKP]

1. They're underground? Leave them there, don't touch any of these deposits.

It's carbon based fuel, it's fossil fuel, leave it the hell alone and take Tesla's advice.

Avoid fuel-based energy generation schemes altogether.