Fracking

The Alberta tar sands, is currently the largest construction project taking place in the world, and as such is a very important

The oil production in Canada has several significant issues that depict the destruction nature of the industry. These issues can be categorized as environmental, political, economic, and social. The environmental issues lead the pack; in that the environmental destruction associated with the industry is extensive. The environmental problems are climatic, land, water and air related (Best & Hoberg, 2015). Under climatic effect, studies indicate that the development of the tar sides has resulted to three times more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than in production of conventional oil. These environmental issues are caused by the composition of the tar sands. Unlike the convention oil, tar sands are a mixture of bitumen and sand. The process of separating the two results triples GHGs emissions when compared to conventional oil production (Koring, 2013).

Oil, gas, and fossil fuels have been recent controversial issues. There are cleaner forms of energy that could be used, but it is unclear what sources should be used and how to

Have you ever thought about if the Alberta Oil Sands are an economic and environmentally sufficient enough that we should still utilize the resource of oil? The Alberta Oil Sands also known as the tar sands were first mined in 1967 and ever since they have done a great deal to Alberta’s economic stability. The issue is that all good things have a bad side as well. Some main disadvantages to the oil sands is that natural habitats get destroyed, creates greenhouse gas emissions which are harmful to humans and the environment and the issue of is it more environmentally friendly to use another source for energy such as methane?

As the issue of global warming becomes more prevalent, we must evaluate choices that are “green” or do not impact our environment in a negative way. Thus, the impacts of oil sands as an energy resource on the environment will be discussed. The Canadian and Global environment take the hardest hits from the tar sands. Depleting and contaminating water, air pollution, processed lands and tailing ponds are left barren with their geology disrupted, and take years to generate new life. Wildlife patterns and populations are disturbed, and greenhouse gases are emitted at an incredible rate, to accompany the huge expense of natural gases. The oil sands do not just produce

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.

World needs energy and Alberta need the oil sands to strengthen the economy. When considering Canada, especially Alberta has been in the oil market, bringing heaps of economic benefits to the country. Besides, energy has turned out to be one of the essential and basic needs, mandatory for the economic progress of a nation. Depending on consumption of the main energy sources, oil is used in a percentage of around 38%, gas is around 21% and also, coal is around 28%. As the developing countries and developed world continue to grow rapidly, many obstacles arise from our dependence on these burnable energies. The availability and consumption of energy resources need to be related to the costs of the global economy and as well as to the ecological impacts. Mainly, the environmental risks associated with energy consumption are related to oil abstraction and their discharge related problems. In addition, these natural resources like coal, oil and gases generate difficulties in both ways, while extracting as well in their use. Besides, the other main problem is the supply of these fuels from other countries and they highly rely on transportation methods or pipe lines which could cause massive destruction to our nature. And at the same time, many arguments take place in regard to the damage cause by these oil sands. Yet, there are no primary energy origins which are free of economic or

As some of you may know, Canada is one of the world’s largest energy producers and is a principal source of US energy imports. Canada has oil sands that are unconventional, but a significant contributor to the growth of liquid fuel supply (North America). Oil sands are areas where the sand absorbed the oil. Refineries pull the oil from

The world’s energy consumption continues to increase and oil satisfies about a third of this requirement. Alberta oil sands is the 3rd largest known reserve behind Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, first and second respectively. With growing global demands and that of our neighbour, America, who imports 37% of their consumption from Canadian oil, the oil sands is the logical next-step in economic development. Developing the Alberta oil deposits has its inherent risks including both environmental and the wellbeing of land creatures including humans, but it’s not the first time humankind traded the environment and wellbeing for development. Nuclear power have shown to be devastating yet we still need it because current technology in clean energy is

Canada’s oil sands are among the largest oil reserves in the word. This is evident from the fact that Canada is ranked third for the largest oil reserve in the world, after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (“Oil Sands,” n.d.). “Oil sand”, is a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, water and bitumen (Gosselin et al., 2010). It is a very dense and extremely viscous oil that must be treated before it can be used to produce usable fuels such as gasoline and diesel (Gosselin et al., 2010). In North America, high oil prices, growing demand, and diminishing oil reserves results in greater interest to mine local oil reserves. Increased production of oil generates significant economic benefits but, at the same time, the development of the oil sands

Boreal Forests are the worlds primary source for industrial wood products, wood fiber and extensive logging. Lumber, plywood for paper and animal furs are also taken from these forests. Mining and drilling for gas and oil often takes place in the tiaga. It is the biggest threat to the forest. It is estimated that the largest amounts of petroleum products lie beneath the boreal forests of Canada, Russia and Alaska (w3.marietta.edu). The high demand for fossil fuels, especially in the wake of crisis in the Middle East, has put focus on these areas for domestic

This publication from the Government of Alberta’s Department of Energy tries to focus on an all-around view of the oil sands. It talks about what they are, how they work, and environmental problems and solutions. The publication is not nearly as current as some other sources, it was published late 2008. It is free from bias but tries to stay overly optimistic, something is a “challenge” not an environmental concern. Since it is a government source it is mostly objective but does try to keep the oil sands in a positive view, possibly to benefit our economy. The publication is factual, accurate, and has a limited bias

For centuries, oil and natural gas have been drilled and mined using conventional means, by digging in oil rich sandstones, conventional rocks. Due to the permeability of these rocks, it is easy for the oil and gas to flow to the surface from well bores and be collected for commercial use. But recently, concerns have been raised regarding the over-exploitation of these resources, as various reports show that with the current level of exploration, these reserves will soon be depleted.

Our insatiable need for oil has lead us down an unsavory pathway looking for it. The Alberta Tar Sands, an economic boom and an environmental disaster, is just one of those places. Once thought of as too intrusive and destructive on the land, has made way for one of the largest tar sands reserves of this century. Harvesting the tar sands will fuel our thirst for oil for many years. Canada and America will both reap the benefits and the consequences of that oil.

Alberta’s oil sands have been fuelling the Canadian economy since their discovery and are easily one of the largest industrial projects in human history– covering an area larger than the state of Florida (Government of Alberta, 2009). Second to Saudi Arabia, Alberta holds the largest amount of proven oil resources in the world (Hasse 2012, p.382). This area