Global oil shale issues and perspectives: synthesis of the symposium on oil shale held in Tallinn on 18 and 19 November 2002

Despite its huge resources, oil shale is an under-utilised energy resource. The reasons comprise competition from cheaper energy sources, heavy front-end investments in mining, electricity generation and refining, and an unfavourable environmental record. Oil shale has, though, a definite potential for meeting energy demand in an environmentally acceptable manner, enhancing security of supply and supporting the local labour market in a number of countries. Accordingly, after a decline of production since 1980, oil shale's perspectives are seen more positively now: there will be a definite increase of production in the short term, probably in the medium term and eventually after 2020, when conventional oil resources become scarce. This perspective is prompted by reduced manpower costs, rising demand for electricity, new shale oil products, less polluting and more efficient technologies and an expected change of price relationships between oil shale and conventional hydrocarbons. Already now experience in Estonia, Brazil, China, Israel and Germany demonstrates that electricity, heat, shale oil, cement, chemicals, construction materials and soil improvers could be produced from oil shale at reasonable, if not competitive, cost. New technologies such as fluidized beds for electricity generation or the ATP process for shale oil production raise efficiencies and reduce air and water pollution to sustainable levels. Innovative approaches are applied to waste remediation. Multi-purpose utilisation of the energy and mineral content of oil shale improves its competitiveness. Small-scale applications in cogeneration, cement manufacture and niche markets complement mega-uses in electricity generation and shale oil production. However, these opportunities require efforts * to enhance the industry's competitiveness in liberalized, global markets * to eliminate the ecological heritage of the past (hazardous waste, water pollution) * to reduce emissions from combustion and processing to internationally agreed levels * to raise efficiencies including through multi-purpose uses of oil shale * to cater also for smaller deposits, boilers and markets (small-scale co-generation, extraction of industrial minerals and metals, use of ash in cement, construction materials and binders, niche applications) * to strengthen international cooperative research * to monitor and participate in international research on C[O.sub.2] while heralding the potential of oil shale ash for permanent