[kellynla]

Okay, but what I am wondering , critics claim that there isn’t enough water to do this. Is that inaccurate because of the present technology?

[SAJ]

Not an engineer, but the Raytheon technique should not be water-intensive at all. How water-intensive is microwave cooking, eh?

Shell's technique involves lining production areas with ice, and recycling much of the water involved. It **sounds** as if there might be a considerable amount of net water usage, but, again, I'm not an engineer.

[thackney]

I found this interesting:

1.2.6 WATER AVAILABILITY
The development of western oil shale resources will require water for plant operations, supporting infrastructure, and the associated economic growth in the region. While some new oil shale technologies significantly reduce process water requirements, stable and secure sources of significant volumes of water may still be required for large-scale oil shale development. The largest demands for water are expected to be for land reclamation and to support the population and economic growth associated with oil shale activity.

Strategic Significance of America’s Oil Shale Resource
Volume II, Oil Shale Resources, Technology and Economics
http://www.unconventionalfuels.org/publications/reports/npr_strategic_significancev2.pdf
Page 6