"There are two major needs in regards to expanding our nation's energy supply. One is to find new fuel sources and the second is to convert fuel to thermal energy while minimizing any negative effects on the environment. In an effort to develop new processes that satisfy both of these basic needs, a new concept of combining oil shale and high sulfur coal in a fluid bed combustor is suggested. This concept offers several unique advantages. The heat content of oil shale can be directly converted to thermal energy by taking the as-mined material, crushing it, and burning it in a fluid bed combustor. Coal can then be mixed with the oil shale to further increase the energy released during combustion. In addition, the oil shale contains a relatively large quantity of calcium carbonate . This portion of the oil shale provides a relatively high alkaline bed material which reacts with and reduces the sulfur dioxide generated when burning a high sulfur coal to an acceptable level. This concept has been tested in a small fluid bed test unit at The Babcock & Wilcox Company's Alliance Research Center. The initial test results are presented in this paper."