Environmental impact of the oil shale industry includes the consideration of issues such as land use, waste management, and water and air pollution caused by the extraction and processing of oil shale. Surface mining of oil shale deposits causes the usual environmental impacts of open-pit mining. In addition, the combustion and thermal processing generate waste material, which must be disposed of, and harmful atmospheric emissions, including carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Experimental in-situ conversion processes and carbon capture and storage technologies may reduce some of these concerns in future, but may raise others, such as the pollution of groundwater.[1][2]
- ^ Bartis, Jim (26 October 2006). Unconventional Liquid Fuels Overview (PDF). World Oil Conference. Boston: Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas – USA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
- ^ Mittal, Anu K. (10 May 2012). "Unconventional Oil and Gas Production. Opportunities and Challenges of Oil Shale Development" (PDF). Government Accountability Office. Retrieved 22 December 2012.