Alberta Oil SandsWhoWhat

WhereWhenWhy How

What are the Tar Sands of Alberta, really?

• https://vimeo.com/46387379

• Type of “unconventional” petroleum deposit

• Mixtures of sand, clay and water, saturated with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum

• Know for being very “dirty” oil because of the processes required to extract it

Extraction: How?• Types of extraction

1. Surface mining/open pit mining (which represents around 20% of all extraction)

2. Steam assisted gravity drainage (In Situ)

How? (continued)• Extraction of oil (In Situ or Steam driven)

• Transportation to refinery

• Hot water (fresh water)

• Bituminous oil mixture + waste

• Final round of refinement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsS9iq0olVI

Stats• Alberta is Canada’s largest producer of:• crude oil• synthetic crude oil• Natural gas

• 12% of GLOBAL oil reserves (whereas Canada’s population is 0.5% of global population Resource distribution***

Compared to Arabian Gulf

Benefits • Alberta has the highest economic growth in Canada

• 136 000 jobs are related to the tar sands industry

• 450 000 jobs are projected to be created in the next 25 years

• Very cheap and easy access to petroleum products

• Lowest tax in Canada

Negative impacts of the oil industry• Fresh water wastage• Emission of GHG’s (1/3 of Canada’s emissions)•Climate change•Deforestation • Ecological impacts (habitats and species)•Aboriginal impacts

Stop the TarSands Campaign•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaF5NfCjWHs

Why consider other alternatives?• 3-5 barrels of fresh water is needed to produce 1 barrel of synthetic oil• This is enough water for 2 million people… per day…

• 600 million cubic feet of natural gas is needed• Enough for 3 million Canadian homes

• Greenhouse gas emissions Climate change• Health factors for nearby residents (ex. Higher rates of cancer)• 70% of the product is used by the United States, NOT CANADA