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Environmental problems caused in the oil sands of alberta
Pros and cons of oil sands in alberta
Pros and cons of oil sands in alberta
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Introduction The statement ‘Canada oil sands are much more of a blessing rather than a curse’ is not true because the disadvantages of oil sands outweigh the advantages. For this reason, this paper aims at indicating points against the statement. To understand the defects of oil sand exploration in Canada, one has to delve into the explanation of what oil sands are as well as how the entire process of mining and refining and thereafter, determine the disadvantages based on socioeconomic factors, environmental factors, as well as the infrastructure and energy required for its production. Oil sands are unconventional petroleum deposits that consist of loose sand and partially consolidated sand stone that contains natural mixtures of natural clay, sand and water which is saturated with a highly viscous form of petroleum that flows extremely slowly known as bitumen (Yunchez, 2012). Concisely, to mine the oil sands, all the wetlands have to be drained and the rivers diverted. Then all trees and any form of vegetation and soil are required to be scraped away to expose the oil sands. Then steam shovels into dump trucks that haul the sand to an extraction plant scoop the sand. This sand is then processed at high temperatures using large amounts of water and chemicals, to extract the extremely viscous tar (Smith, 2009). In general, the processes relating to refining, extracting, and processing oil sands have social, economic, and environmental effects that are undesirable as discussed here. Socio economic Effects The oil sands in Canada have been proven to have adverse economic effects to the people of Canada and Alberta. It is the most unsympathetic economic activity killing birds, insects, and other creatures. This is because mining, r... ... middle of paper ... ...oreign Relations, Center for Geo-economics Studies. Phillips, M. (2013). Why Canada's Oil Sands Look Like a Shaky Investment. Retrieved on December, 23, 2013 from www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/kxl-FINAL-Sun-24-Nov-CLEAN-FINAL.pdf Siegel, P. (2012). Tar Sands Oil: Pros and Cons. Retrieved on December, 24, 2013 from www.triplepundit.com/2012/04/tar-sands-oil-pros-cons/?doing_wp_cron Smith, C. (2009). How things work: Canada's oil sands. United Nations University, Vol.1, No. 110. Retrieved on December, 24, 2013 from http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/canadas-oil-sands Timilsina,G, (2005). Economic Impacts of Albertas Oil Sands, Canadian Energy Research Institute. Yunchez. (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Oil Sands. Retrieved on December, 24, 2013 from www.studymode.com/essays/Advantages-And-Disadvantages-Of-Oil-Sands-1184952.html
Oil sands crude is more corrosive to pipeline and more difficult to clean up when there is a oil spill (Palliser 9). Traditional clean up techniques used will not work and some are concerned that the federal agency that oversees the United States pipelines are not equipped to handle such a massive project (Palliser 9). Search for how many oil spills in the united states. In the event of a structural failure of the Keystone XL pipeline the maximium spill volume could be 2.8 million gallons (Palliser 9). This would be devastating to wetland, rivers, ground water and drinking water
The reason for this report is to increase the reader’s knowledge on the Alberta Tar Sands, which will allow them to create their own opinions on the situation. It is a very pertinent issue in politics and will have a very large effect on the carbon emissions of Canada. Also, I wanted to further my understanding of the Alberta tar sands and learn the side effects of the tar sands. How the tar sands are different from other oil and energy procurement methods and which method is more energy efficient? Would the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States be an intelligent way for the US to involve itself in the tar sands? I wanted to answer these questions by knowing the real facts about the tar sands versus what the oil companies are telling the consumers. The ability to assess the entire situation will allow both the reader and I to formulate our own opinions about the tar sands and whether the extraction of oil at the tar sands should continue.
This paper will discuss the effects of Keystone XL Pipeline project and how the findings of the research might be beneficial to the United States. The first point of argument will be the negative impact of the Keystone Pipeline to America’s economy and the environment. The second point of view will be the positive impact of Keystone Pipeline to America’s economy. Keystone XL Pipeline is TransCanada’s tar-sand transportation project. The pipeline is supposed to cut across America to be linked with Canada’s tar-sand mines. It is aimed at increasing energy security in America. However, the project has received a lot of criticism from both the citizens and environmentalists for climate reasons (Mendelsohn and Dinar 154). To understand the implications of Keystone XL Pipeline, it is important to look at its environmental and economic impacts to the United States.
According to one government analysis, the crude from Canada’s oil sands will emit seventeen percent more greenhouse gas pollution than there processes used for conventional oil, making it even more controversial against environmentalists (Davenport par. 6). The concerns are reflected in great quantity of carbon in the tar sands, “Ensure that they will play an important role in whether or not climate change gets out of hand” (Clayton 2). In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) noticed the impact it would have on greenhouse gas emissions. According to the E.P.A., “The recent drop in global oil prices might mean that contraction of the pipeline vault spur increased development of Canadian oil sands—and thus increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions” (Davenport par
Pratt, Joseph A. “Exxon and the Control of Oil.” Journal of American History. 99.1 (2012): 145-154. Academic search elite. Web. 26. Jan. 2014.
First, we will look at the positive effects of extracting oil on Anticosti Island. This discovery will have a positive impact on the economy of the province of Quebec. In many cases, we can clearly see that the economy become wealthy after the extraction of petroleum. For example: “In 1997, the Canadian petroleum industry supplied about $15 billion worth of crude oil, natural gases, natural gas liquids and refined oil products to meet our domestic energy and petrochemical needs. Without the industry, we would have had spend at least this much on imported supplies. In addition, we received $25 billion in revenues for petroleum exports in 1997.This $40-billion boost to the economy turned a potential $16-billion trade deficit into a $24-billion trade surplus” (Bott, 1999, p. 89). There is another example of a wealthy economy during the oil explorati...
Oil Sands are a type of bitumen deposit, the sands are naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and an extremely dense and viscous form of petroleum called bitumen. They are found in large amounts in many countries throughout the world, but are found in extremely large quantities in Canada and Venezuela. Along with the local environmental and human-health impacts have contributed to the debate surrounding the resource. While many welcome it because it benefits the Canadian economy, Canada became U.S. and a curial energy source. To start off, a pro is that the oil sands have spurred massive economic growth in Alberta. Oil sands continue to generate huge profits to Canada and provide thousands of jobs for the residents including mining, research and
“The conversation of our natural resources and their proper use underlines almost every other problem in our national life,” Theodore Roosevelt. Americans’ dependence upon petroleum-based energy sources has required the United States to consider a variety of options to fulfill [the] ever-increasing energy needs, even drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] (Smith). The controversial question on whether or not to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reserve has been in battle since its establishment. Drilling in ANWR would cause severe damage as it is a danger to its native plants and animals as the land is their home and birthing ground, the land discussed to be open to drilling will not be the only land set to a path of destruction, and along with the use and distribution of the oil found, as of how much could be discovered and if it is worth losing precious land all to a nations greed of oil.
The Athabasca oil sands are the second largest producer of crude oil in the world, with a surface area of approximately 100 000 square kilometres (Anderson, Giesy & Wiseman, 2010). The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board estimates that the oil sands contains approximately 1.7 trillion barrels of crude bitumen, however only 19% can be ultimately recovered (Raynolds, Severson-Baker & Woynillowicz, 2005; Humphries, 2008). The availability of recoverable bitumen makes Canada’s oil sands deposit larger even than that of Saudi Arabia (Czarnecki, Hamza, Masliyah, Xu & Zhou, 2004).The process of surface and in situ mining of the Athabasca oil sands is causing rapid and significant degradation of the regional environment surrounding Fort McMurray and the Athabasca River. Production is expected to increase to three million barrels per day by 2015 from approximately 2 million currently (Humphries, 2008). This increase will further exacerbate the existing environmental impacts of crude oil production. The Canadian oil and natural gas industry is extremely lucrative, but despite the short-term economic benefits of the mining of the Athabasca oil sands, the remediation of the negative environmental impacts of the extraction of oil on terrestrial and aquatic environments, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions are a priority.
The Importance of Mining Industry The importance of mining is definitely significant to Canada. Mining, is an important industry, and Canadians are very advanced in their mining technology, but during the mining process, there is certain level of pollution produced. The Canadian government and the mining companies have very good plans and controls toward this problem, while ensuring the smooth running of the industries, and also helping to create strong economy and employment. The world of today could not exist without mineral products. Canada produces about 60 minerals and ranks first among producing countries1. As well, Canada is the largest exporter of minerals, with more than 20 per cent of production shipped to world markets2.
In a world where money is large part of everyone's lives. It gets harder and harder to define what methods are right in order to make money and weather preserving the environment is more important than maintaining our country's economy. One controversial area that usually brought up in these conversations is the Alberta oil sands. The Alberta oil sands is an industry where it involves bringing up oil sands (mixture of sand, water, clay and bitumen) through drilling or mining and getting crude oil to us in a variety items/ products. It is one of the largest industries in Canada and large part of what maintains our economy. The 2009 movie Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all-time. The movie itself revolves around humans coming to a planet
.... Rosentreter, Richard. (Sept. 2000) Oil, Profits, and the Question of Alternative Energy. Retrieved Feb. 9 from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_5_60/ai_65133031
The majority of Canada’s population is centralized in Ontario and Quebec (Brander, 2014). A large share of the economic activity in these two provinces is related to manufacturing (Brander, 2014). Meanwhile, western provinces are more closely connected to resource-based industries, such as mining, energy, and forestry (Brander, 2014). Provinces within Canada manage and tax their own natural resources (Boadway, Coulombe, & Tremblay, 2013). Thus, the geography of Canada combined with the jurisdiction for natural resources poses a problem when attempting to combat the Dutch disease (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). The resource boom is affecting two different parts of Canada (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). Western provinces, specifically Alberta, are benefiting from the resource boom in the oil and gas industry (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). Meanwhile, provinces with large manufacturing sectors, particularly Ontario and Quebec...
With the demand of oil growing, the scrutiny of Alberta’s large oil reserves intensifies. The province has the largest source of crude bitumen in the world and major oil sand regions, with Athabasca being the largest (Irvine, Blais, Doyle, Kimpe, White, 2014, p. 1). As the conventional production of crude oil declines, the bitumen found in oil sands are being brought onto the global and domestic spotlight. Additionally, these oil sands are being advertised as the means to make Canada ‘an emerging energy superpower’ (Sherval, 2015, p. 225). The oil sands is a powerful economic resource for Alberta and has helped spur a population growth with the many job opportunities. However, with the operations in the oil sands growing more popular to meet
While oil has greatly improved and progressed the world’s industry and economy, it has negatively impacted the environment because of the harmful events it has caused. Most of these harmful events originated from an extremely impactful commodity called petroleum. Petroleum, which produces oil, is an environmentally harmful substance created from rocks. The damage it has caused has rapidly declined environmental health on a global level. The FT Press states that, “Petroleum causes pollution at every stage, from mining and recovery to refining, transporting and using it as fuel.” Although petroleum brings economic wealth, petroleum’s vast contributions to global warming are unsettling. When burned, Petroleum releases many toxic chemicals, such as carbon dioxide, which is a root cause of global warming, and sul...