In answer to the letter of Nov. 11, “Can oil shale be used in asphalt?” the answer is yes. In fact considerable work was done in years past that demonstrated that oil-shale residual added to conventional asphalt greatly improved the durability and other characteristics of the asphalt mix.

Road sections in Colorado and Wyoming were paved with a mixture of shale oil and conventional asphalt and they lived up to all expectations. Unfortunately no commercial sources of shale oil were available, and the project was terminated. The future holds promise for oil shale being used for asphalt, transportation fuels, chemical feedstocks and other uses. Research and development projects in Colorado and Utah are progressing, and commercial projects may emerge in the next decade that can begin to reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of petroleum.

More factual information on oil shale is available on www.oilshaleassoc.org.

GLENN VAWTER, Executive Director
National Oil Shale Association
Glenwood Springs

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