Speakers in Salt Lake City tout possibilities at Unconventional Fuels Conference

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's rich natural resources could provide the answer to many of the state's energy concerns in the not-so-distant future.

Addressing the 2010 Unconventional Fuels Conference on Wednesday, Dianne Nielson, energy adviser to the governor's office, said the state is encouraging the continued development of unconventional uses for fuel sources such as oil sands, oil shale and coal.

Nielson said that by creating reasonable standards for energy producers to follow, the state stands to become a leader and example to the world in the development of nontraditional resources.

"That's a major opportunity and major objective … to see that development," she told the audience of about 100 people in the Varsity Room at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

While the state is eager to expand its overall energy portfolio, it will not be allowed to happen in an irresponsible manner. "We need to make sure that the work we do in Utah is sound, environmentally strong, defensible, and … affordable and sustainable," she said.

The event focused on the production of fuels from oil shale, oil (or tar) sands and coal.

Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that is tightly bound to organic material known as kerogen. When oil shale is heated, the kerogen is released as both gaseous and liquid products.

Oil sands are rock, exclusive of oil shale and coal, that contain a very viscous organic material known as bitumen. Bitumen can be recovered from oil sands by hot water or solvent extraction or by heating the sand in an inert atmosphere.

Thermal treatment of coal can yield gases or liquids, depending on the process used, such as underground coal gasification or direct liquefaction.

For years, numerous private entities have spent millions of dollars attempting to develop a cost-effective process to produce fuel from oil shale and oil sands. But due to various factors, including political policy, no process has been proven economically viable thus far.

Steve Black, special counsel to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, told the audience that the federal government also would like to see development of unconventional fuels, particularly as a potential supplemental transportation fuel for the trucking industry and as airline fuel.

"This administration supports all responsible development of potential energy resources," Black said.