Yep, pipelines are better for moving oil and safer too, I'm not against them either, but it's not my call! Alberta moving oil to the east is an issue for Manitoba and Ontario, moving large amounts of it by Great lakes tankers would go over like a turd in the punch bowl. I think moving forward the total "carbon price" of tar sands oil will be a factor and international agreements might end up embargoing it.
climateactionnetwork.ca
| – Average greenhouse gas emissions for tar sands oil are estimated to be 3.2 to 4.5 times as intensive per barrel as for conventional crude oil produced in Canada or the United States. – About 5% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from oil sands plants and upgraders. Oil sands are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and are projected to account for over 90% of our emissions growth between 2006 and 2020. – If Alberta were a country, its per capita greenhouse gas emissions would be higher than any other country in the world at 70.2 tonnes per person. | – Tailings are a waste byproduct from the oil sands extraction processes used in mining operations. They are toxic to aquatic organisms and mammals, and contain chemicals that have been classified as cancer-causing agents. – Tailings are stored indefinitely in open lakes that cover an area that is already larger than the city of Vancouver. This area is growing fast, increasing in volume at a rate that would fill 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools each day. – Tailings lakes leak. The exact amount of leakage is either not known or has not been made public, although estimates suggest that as much as 4 billion litres of tailings leak each year. | – Oil sands operations return almost none of the water they use to the natural cycle, often injecting waste water deep underground. – Mining operations alone are licensed to divert 652 million cubic metres of water each year, about seven times as much as the annual water needs of the Edmonton area. Mining requires between 2 and 4 barrels of water to extract and process one barrel of tar sands oil. – Current water withdrawals risk affecting the ecosystem of the Athabasca River, which flows into one of the world’s largest freshwater deltas. |
They do move bunker oil on the Great Lakes now and I’m amazed there have not been more catastrophic accidents. The only thing stopping the big tankers is lack of infrastructure (lock size) At 1200 rail accidents a year it won’t be long before the next town burns down in a river of flaming oil.
Why the fuck not just refine the oil sands bitumen in Alberta? Because the cost of refining bitumen into gas is higher then buying and refining light sweet crude. None of the Oil sands bitumen is turned into gas in Canada its all exported to China or the states to be refined into bunker oil .
I’m no expert on the refining process but pretty sure it’s not all used as “bunker” oil. Lots still gets pumped to the States southern refineries at a discounted price to reflect higher costs involved. The whole point is, the oil producing provinces by deferring actual cost are now suffering as opposed to ensuring a diversified economy ........ opps. Fuck the whole of Alberta is pretty much expats from Ontario eastward who went to find work in the mid 70’s-80’s lol
Just some search results off the first page of Google
Some excerpts from the article linked below, an independent Alberta would be faced with future international embargos over carbon emissions.
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Tar Sands Report
– If Alberta were a country, its per capita greenhouse gas emissions would be higher than any other country in the world at 70.2 tonnes per person.
Tar Sands Report – Climate Action Network
– Average greenhouse gas emissions for tar sands oil are estimated to be 3.2 to 4.5 times as intensive per barrel as for conventional crude oil produced in Canada or the United States.
– About 5% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from oil sands plants and upgraders. Oil sands are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and are projected to account for over 90% of our emissions growth between 2006 and 2020.
– If Alberta were a country, its per capita greenhouse gas emissions would be higher than any other country in the world at 70.2 tonnes per person.– Tailings are a waste byproduct from the oil sands extraction processes used in mining operations. They are toxic to aquatic organisms and mammals, and contain chemicals that have been classified as cancer-causing agents.
– Tailings are stored indefinitely in open lakes that cover an area that is already larger than the city of Vancouver. This area is growing fast, increasing in volume at a rate that would fill 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools each day.
– Tailings lakes leak. The exact amount of leakage is either not known or has not been made public, although estimates suggest that as much as 4 billion litres of tailings leak each year.– Oil sands operations return almost none of the water they use to the natural cycle, often injecting waste water deep underground.
– Mining operations alone are licensed to divert 652 million cubic metres of water each year, about seven times as much as the annual water needs of the Edmonton area. Mining requires between 2 and 4 barrels of water to extract and process one barrel of tar sands oil.
– Current water withdrawals risk affecting the ecosystem of the Athabasca River, which flows into one of the world’s largest freshwater deltas.[/l
- 72% of Canadians say the federal government should play a more active role in managing the oil sands.
- 79% of Canadians say oil sands GHG emissions should be capped at current levels and then reduced.
- 52% of Canadians say approvals for new projects should be suspended until environmental management issues are resolved.
- 46% of Canadians say that environmental concerns are more important than the oil sands’ potential as a secure, non-foreign supplier of oil to North America.
- 43% of Canadians say the opposite – that the oil sands’ potential as a secure, non-foreign supplier of oil to North America is more important than the environmental concerns.
- Aboriginal leaders have “declared war” on the oil sands.
Woah buddy keep it civil would ya
Even within the tar sand mining industry, executives are owning up to their poor position:
Most Canadians live in a east west strip within 100 miles of the border, the rest is arboreal forest and tundra. Carbon is calculated internationally by population on a per capita basis not by mere geography.
DIY
Rider
Here's a timely and appropriate newspaper article.(..It's been floating around a few chats boards)..Gives a bit more foundation to the topic as opposed to random opinion..and gives people from outside the prairies perspective as to why Alberta and Sask feel the way they do..
