It is highly unlikely that my fellow Colorado residents would allow the strip mining of huge areas of this state. In-situ processes are the only way oil shale is going to work.

There has been a bidding process going on for a test plant on BLM (government) land in Colorado. Last I heard Shell was going to win. I've seen some interesting ideas come out of this bidding phase, including using ceramic fuel cells that feed on methane to generate heat. But it still takes an enourmous amount of water; which is something we are already rationing and fighting over.

Oil shale is like fusion: it is always 30 years away from solving all our energy needs.