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PREFACE pproximately 100 years ago, during the construction of a railroad, a workman piled pieces of excavated rock to enclose a campfire and discovered that the stone ignited. This incident was recorded i n the M a r c h 1874 issue of Scientific American as the first discovery of oil shale as an energy source i n this continent. About 50 years later, the American Chemical Society published the first book on "Shale O i l , " as the A C S Monograph Series No. 25, by Ralph H . M c K e e of Columbia University. His remarks still hold true to this day, as evidenced by an excerpt from his preface, dated A p r i l 1925. "The most concentrated and the most easily used fuels have been those most sought for and most used. The discovery of a new and more concentrated fuel has been followed each time by a notable increase i n the number and importance of devices for the conversion of heat into other forms of energy valuable to industry and life." "This volume has been written because petroleum has achieved such great importance as a concentrated fuel i n American industrial life and because oil from oil shale promises i n the immediate future to supplement the supplies of well petroleum, and, i n the more distant future, when the supply of well petroleum gradually fails, to furnish the bulk of the oil needed." Another 50 years have elapsed during which oil shale, tar sands, and other supplementary fuels have not been fully exploited, despite the fact that this country is facing an energy shortage. It was an opportune time when the A C S Division of F u e l Chemistry decided to sponsor a symposium on "Shale O i l , Tar Sands, and Related F u e l Sources" i n A p r i l 1974 at Los Angeles. M a n y of the papers presented at that symposium have been updated for the present volume. M y heartiest thanks to H o w a r d B. Jenson of E R D A for his generous assistance and my sincerest acknowledgments to all the contributors for their patience and cooperation. I would also like to mention the assistance of many of my students, associates, and especially the clerical work of Darlene Baxter, Donna Jue, and Barbara James. TEH
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University of Southern California Los Angeles, Calif. M a r c h 19, 1976 vii Yen; Shale Oil, Tar Sands, and Related Fuel Sources Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1976.
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