Alberta Tar Sands to Increase Output 250% Over Next 10 Years
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.18.08
Alberta Tar Sands
Not all barrels of oil are created equal. Some take more energy and more water to get out of the ground than others, and tar sands, aka bituminous sands or extra heavy oil, are at the "extra dirty" end of the spectrum. So it's not exactly good news for the environment to learn that a significant portion of the strong demand for oil in the next 10 years will be met by hydrocarbons from Alberta.
Oil Production Forecast
Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has released a report predicting that the province will go from 1.32 million barrels of raw bitumen per day in 2007 to 3.2 million barrels per day in 2017 (and who knows, if oil prices stay high, they could ramp it up even more quickly).
Environmental Impact
Environmental Defense has a report on Alberta's tar sands (which we mentioned in: Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth). It doesn't paint a rosy picture:
- Oil sands mining is licensed to use twice the amount of fresh water that the entire city of Calgary uses in a year.
- At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing.
- Processing the oil sands uses enough natural gas in a day to heat 3 million homes.
- The toxic tailing ponds are considered one of the largest human-made structures in the world.
- The ponds span 50 square kilometers and can be seen from space.
- Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.
More on Alberta's Tar Sands
Canadian Oil: At What Price?
Alberta Tar Sands: A North American Overview
Canadian Tar Sands: a Hydrocarbon Hurricane
A Picture is Worth... The Alberta Tar Sands
Edward Burtynsky on the Alberta Tar Sands
Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth
More on Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board Report
Alberta’s Reserves 2007 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2008-2017
Alberta Oil Sands Output Estimated to Increase Almost 2.5x by 2017
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- BLM Issues New Rules for Oil Shale Development: Last Minute Bush Administration Environmental Trashing?
- Canada, Tarry-Eye'd, Pumps Out Climate Pact For President-Elect Obama
- Canadian Tar Sands Like Tolkein’s Mordor: UN Water Advisor
- Tar Sands, Banking Crisis, & Peak Oil - Mired At The Crossroads
An informative documentary on the Alberta Tar Sands refineries can be found at: www.vbs.tv under the toxic series. In the documentary you're introduced to refinery workers, lumber jacks, local Albertans, policiticans, and displaced native people. I urge you all to check out the series and learn more about this extremely hazardous practice.
Hopefully one day I can vacation at the Toxic Ponds.. I just wish our government was nationalizing the oil industry so we could benefit from all this "black gold" we have
I'd like to see a numerical comparison of how much energy it takes to extract 1 barrel of oil from tar sand as compared to the energy we can extract from that oil.
you must be nuts to think that the government would do a good job by owning the oil industry.
The gov't screws up everything it gets involved with.
If we don't want the oil sands to be drilled, we have to reduce the price of oil.
We must drill in ANWAR and offshore in the USA.
Solar,wind fuel cell must be used as well.
You must be nuts to think that reducing the price of oil will solve the problem. Energy cheap-enough for us to waste IS the problem. And the sooner that everybody understands that fuel cells are just a less-efficient way to use hydrocarbons, the sooner we can stop deluding ourselves that new technology will keep us from changing our wasteful, self-destructive habits.
You must be nuts to think that reducing the price of oil will solve the problem. Energy cheap-enough for us to waste IS the problem. And the sooner that everybody understands that fuel cells are just a less-efficient way to use hydrocarbons, the sooner we can stop deluding ourselves that new technology will keep us from changing our wasteful, self-destructive habits.
You must be nuts to think that reducing the price of oil will solve the problem. Energy cheap-enough for us to waste IS the problem. And the sooner that everybody understands that fuel cells are just a less-efficient way to use hydrocarbons, the sooner we can stop deluding ourselves that new technology will keep us from changing our wasteful, self-destructive habits.
You must be nuts to think that reducing the price of oil will solve the problem. Energy cheap-enough for us to waste IS the problem. And the sooner that everybody understands that fuel cells are just a less-efficient way to use hydrocarbons, the sooner we can stop deluding ourselves that new technology will keep us from changing our wasteful, self-destructive habits.
if it wasn't for our "wasteful,destructive habits", we wouldn't have the standard of living that we have now, and we would still be in the caves.
The only reason the Alberta Oil Sands are being developed is the demand for the product. Demand is created by anyone who drives a vehicle, takes transit or eats an apple or wears clothing that was delivered by truck or train. All of us.
The planet's appetite for plastics also requires oil. If you own anything made in this century, it likely contains plastic. (Furthermore, you have probably thrown away more plastic than you own). It all comes from oil.
The greater part of North America is uninhabitable if it weren't for fossil fuels heating and cooling our homes and businesses.
So whether we like it or not, our consumption of energy and other petroleum products contributes directly to oil sands production.
Rather than pointing fingers, perhaps we can find ways to improve the extraction methods so environmental impact is minimized; maybe direct our energies towards finding creative ways to rehabilitate the land and other resources. While we still have a few years of supply left, we should make a concerted effort to find and fund viable alternatives.
It doesn't seem as though we have progressed in our thinking since the energy crisis of the 1970's. We should have solar power perfected by now and the problem of energy storage (through efficient inexpensive "batteries").
We're facing the same issues we did forty years ago. Only then it was the threat of global cooling.
Instead of funding alternatitive energy technologies, governments continue to subsidize oil exploration and oils sands projects.
We won't stop oil sands development anytime soon. But we can take some positive steps towards softening our footprint.