What is an issue with the Athabasca tar sands?
Large enough to be seen from space, tailings ponds in Alberta’s oil sands region are some of the biggest human-made structures on Earth. They contain a toxic slurry of heavy metals and hydrocarbons from the bitumen separation process.
What are 3 of the problems with the tar sands?
Tar sands extraction emits up to three times more global warming pollution than does producing the same quantity of conventional crude. It also depletes and pollutes freshwater resources and creates giant ponds of toxic waste. Refining the sticky black substance produces piles of petroleum coke, a hazardous by-product.
What are the disadvantages of tar sands?
The Cons of Tar Sands
- Clear-cutting is often required to access deposits.
- Extracting bitumen from tar sands is carbon-intensive.
- Dependence on tar sands may just prolong the inevitable.
- The waste products from tar sands are highly toxic.
- Leaks from tar sands operations could harm people and animals in the region.
Why are tar sands not ideal?
Converting and extracting tar sands into usable fuel is an energy and water-intensive endeavor, and it creates an abundance of toxic air, waste and water pollution, as well as destroys precious ecosystems and habitats home to millions of organisms.
Is the Athabasca oil sands a tragedy of the commons?
The politicians and industry supporters want us to believe that we don’t have to do anything about GHG emissions because we (Canada, Alberta, the oil sands) are such a small contributor to global GHG emissions. This leads to a problem known as the “tragedy of the commons”.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of tar sands?
- Very large supply. Second largest oil field in the world.
- Economically recoverable at today’s oil prices.
- Will help keep oil prices relatively low.
- Enormous growth potential.
- Big economic driver in Alberta.
- Stable source country (a rarity for oil)
- GHG emissions could potentially be minimized through CCS.
What are tar sands pros and cons?
What are some of the deleterious effects of tar sands mining?
Burning tar sands oil creates more pollution than regular crude. Because of its sludgy composition, mining and refining tar sands oil demands an enormous amount of energy. Tar sands generate 17 percent more carbon emissions than conventional oil.
Are tar sands corrosive?
The chemistry of the tar sands oil could contribute to corrosion as well. It found that dilbit is not corrosive at pipeline temperatures of as much as 65 degrees Celsius, although it is highly corrosive at refinery temperatures above 100 degrees C.
Are tar sands renewable?
Fossil fuels are the most commonly used types of non-renewable energy. Two other less-used sources of fossil fuels are oil shales and tar sands.
How are the tar sands oil fields currently impacting the forest of northern Canada?
According to data from Global Forest Watch, an online mapping platform that tracks tree cover loss and gain in near-real time, industrial development and forest fires in Canada’s tar sands region has cleared or degraded 775,500 hectares (almost two million acres) of boreal forest since the year 2000 (Map A).
What are the economic benefits of the Athabasca oil sands?
On the other hand, they offer a stable source of energy and economic growth. The Athabasca oil sands are the largest segment of the economy in Alberta, making up just over 30 percent of the gross domestic product.
What’s wrong with the Athabasca River?
Companies get the water from the Athabasca River—one of North America’s longest free-flowing rivers—and nearly all of it ends up too contaminated to return. The Athabasca is already at risk of being overdrawn, and adding more tar sands operations would imperil the river, its surrounding wetlands, and the people and wildlife that depend on them. 3.
What does the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan mean for Aboriginal rights?
“The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan is being applied by decision-makers and relied upon by tar sands companies to preclude the protection of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and land uses.’
Why won’t Alberta release its tar sands report?
Report reveals how Alberta is violating Aboriginal and Treaty rights. The Province of Alberta is refusing to release a scathing study revealing how it violates Aboriginal and Treaty rights when it comes to tar sands developments. The province has had the report since last July.