Survey of Energy Resources 2007 History of the Oil Shale
Industry The use of oil shale can be traced back to ancient
times. By the 17th century, oil shales were being exploited in
several countries. One of the interesting oil shales is the
Swedish alum shale of Cambrian and Ordovician age that is noted
for its alum content and high concentrations of metals including
uranium and vanadium. As early as 1637, the alum shales were
roasted over wood fires to extract potassium aluminium sulphate,
a salt used in tanning leather and for fixing colours in
fabrics. Late in the 1800s, the alum shales were retorted on a
small scale for hydrocarbons. Production continued through World
War II but ceased in 1966 because of the availability of cheaper
supplies of petroleum crude oil. In addition to hydrocarbons,
some hundreds of tonnes of uranium and small amounts of vanadium
were extracted from the Swedish alum shales in the 1960s
(Andersson et al., 1985). An oil shale deposit at Autun, France,
was exploited commercially as