Microwave oil recovery could unlock trillions of barrels of oil [...] from Oil shale and oil sands

Next Big Future ^ | Dec 7, 2016 | Brian Wang

[Fai Mao]

Oh I can hardly wait until the enviro-whacko’s hear about this. If they thought fracking was bad - this is gonna be fun

[Gay State Conservative]

Of course the watermelons (green on the outside,red on the inside) already have come up with a reason why we must *NOT* use this method and have already recruited the professional protesters when the time comes.

[aposiopetic]

Thanks for posting this. Sounds promising.

[lgjhn23]

“They’re gonna zap all the earthworms!!!”

[marktwain]

It will be to “Save the Whales!”

[marktwain]

It will be to “Save the Whales!”

[Rebelbase]

Microwave ovens will now have a “frack” button.

[blueunicorn6]

“Come and listen to my story bout a man named Jed.
A poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed.
And then one day he was microwaving popcorn
And up from the ground came a bubbling crude.”

Just doesn’t work.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Mixing oil and water nearer to the surface. They are going to cry ground water, well, and aquifer contamination.

[King Moonracer]

Giant microwave??? I’ll get the popcorn.

[PGR88]

Indeed. Fracking is already absolutely safe. The Watermelons will be opposed to anything traditional energy companies do

[Bubba_Leroy]

Dammit. How are we ever going to become a society of hunter-gatherers who have to rely on sunlight and wind for power if people keep inventing new ways to produce cheap oil?

[Secret Agent Man]

Will it nuke animals underground too?

Whatis the energy cost to power this? Sounds like 500 kwatts but what does this add onto the pumping costs?

[ZOOKER]

Don’t know how much oil they’ll get, but I can see an endless supply of bad SyFy movies.

[Innovative]

Sounds promising.

I am sure Trump will let them go and explore this method to determine whether it is indeed as good as it sounds, and if it is, then let them use it in the industry.

[Vince Ferrer]

Whatis the energy cost to power this? Sounds like 500 kwatts but what does this add onto the pumping costs?

"Qmast estimates his pumping costs will be about $9 per barrel, which is only about $2 more than conventional wells."

[PTBAA]

....then one day he was microwaving food,
and up from the ground came a’ bubblin’ crude.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Exxon radiated oil shale back in the 70s around Rifle, Colorado.
Didn’t work very well.

The shale became larger after the oil was zapped out.

[Secret Agent Man]

Yes, PUMPING COSTS, ie bringing up the oil. Does this include the energy they will use powering the microwave to cook the shale to release the oil? half a megawatt isn’t going to be inexpensive.