The oil sands of Alberta, Canada contain the second largest known reserve of oil in the world. With global demand for oil expected to increase nearly 40 percent over the next quarter century and production becoming increasingly dominated by Middle Eastern countries, Canada's oil sands are an important global resource. However, mining this oil is extremely environmentally costly--producing one barrel of oil from the oil sands generates three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil. Several environmental organizations are now calling for a halt on further oil sands project approvals until effective emissions reduction strategies are employed.
A Limited Resource
Although global oil production continues to increase each year, its rate of increase has been slowing. When combined with constantly growing demand, this loss of momentum has induced rising world oil prices, which are now nearing $100 per barrel. While production in the United States has been decreasing steadily since 1970 due to dwindling reserves, Canada is showing rapid growth thanks to its relatively under-exploited oil sands. Between 1995 and 2004, oil sands production increased 133 percent, reaching 1.1 million barrels per day 16 years earlier than experts had predicted.
Oil Production Trends in the US and Canada
(thousand barrels per day)
Source: EarthTrends 2008
Drastically Altering the Natural Landscape
Unlike conventional oil that flows naturally or is pumped from the ground, Canada's oil sands must be mined in situ and then processed to remove the crude oil, which represents only 10-12 percent of the mixture, from the sand and water that constitute the rest. To produce just one barrel of oil, two metric tons of sand must be removed, resulting in 80-meter-deep open pits that have been removed of all natural vegetation. In total, 149,000 square kilometers of Alberta's boreal forest could be affected. Of the millions of cubic meters of water used for oil sands mining, at least 90 percent ends up in toxic tailings ponds that now cover over 50 square kilometers.A Growing Greenhouse Gas Problem
The oil sands are Canada's fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Although the Canadian Government has proposed mandatory 15 percent reductions in CO2 intensity (emissions per unit of production) by 2012, the targets are not significant enough to outweigh the increased emissions that will result from overall growth in production. If the companies miss their intensity targets, the Government will allow them to pay Cdn$15-20 into a Climate Change Technology Fund per additional metric ton of carbon produced. Equivalent to only Cdn$0.05 per barrel of oil, this policy is more of a loophole than a penalty.
Survey Finds Poor Environmental Performance
The Pembina Institute and WWF-Canada released Under-Mining the Environment, the Oil Sands Report Card, which is a comprehensive comparative assessment of 10 of Alberta's oil sands mines. The Albian Sands Muskeg River Mine, with a score of 56 percent, was the only one to receive a passing grade. The report used 20 different environmental indicators in five categories: environmental management, land impacts, air pollution, water use, and management of greenhouse gases.The report card provides recommendations to improve oil sands environmental management. Until such changes are realized, WWF believes that continued liscencing of new oil sands projects by the Canadian Government should be halted.
RELATED LINKS:
The Oil Sands Discovery Centre
Oil Sands Fever: The Environmental Implications of Canada's Oil Sands Rush (pdf)
Is World Oil Production Peaking? (article by the Earth Policy Institute)
World Energy Outlook 2007 - Oil Factsheet (pdf)
See Canada's ranking on this year's Climate Change Performance Index
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