Alberta investing in CCS for oil sands

by Daniel J. Graeber

Edmonton, Alberta (UPI) Apr 18, 2013

Canada gives OK to West Coast LNG terminal Calgary, Alberta (UPI) Apr 17, 2013 - The approval of an export license for Triton LNG Ltd. from a port in British Columbia gives Canadian energy companies access to new markets, a regulator said.Canada's National Energy Board gave approval for a 25-year application to send about 320 million cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from a port to be located either at Kitimat or Prince Rupert, British Columbia.NEB said the approval is in response to the glut of natural gas in North America. "One of the major impacts of this increase is lower demand for Canadian gas in traditional gas markets in the United States and eastern Canada," it said in a statement Wednesday. "As a result, the Canadian gas industry is seeking to access overseas gas markets." Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has sought to add a layer of diversity to an energy export economy that depends on the United States. Asian markets are among the world's largest consumers of LNG and Harper recently signed a free-trade deal with South Korea. NEB said the terminal for LNG hasn't been constructed yet and needs further regulatory approval before it can begin.

The provincial government in Alberta, Canada, said it set aside more than $1 billion for carbon storage and storage facilities for oil sands projects.
Provincial Energy Minister Diana McQueen said two projects tied to the oil sands sector would be able to store more than 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
"With [these projects], we are showing the world we take the responsible development of our resources seriously and we're becoming a world leader in CCS technology," she said in a statement Thursday.
Alberta holds some of the largest oil deposits in the world at its Athabasca deposit, located in the east of the province.
The heavier grade of crude oil found there is seen as a threat to the environment because it's carbon-intensive to produce.







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Pictures: Satellite Views of Canada's Oil Sands Over Time
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Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination ‘Bullseye’ Around Canadian Tar Sands

By Emily Atkin December 30, 2013 at 1:45 pm Updated: December 30, 2013 at 1:31 pm

 

"Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination ‘Bullseye’ Around Canadian Tar Sands"

Just one week after Al Jazeera discovered that regulatory responsibility for Alberta, Canada’s controversial tar sands would be handed over to a fossil-fuel funded corporation, federal scientists have found that the area’s viscous petroleum deposits are surrounded by a nearly 7,500-square-mile ring of mercury.

Canadian government scientists have found that levels of mercury — a potent neurotoxin which has been found to cause severe birth defects and brain damage — around the region’s vast tar sand operations are up to 16 times higher than regular levels for the region. The findings, presented by Environment Canada researcher Jane Kirk at an international toxicology conference, showed that the 7,500 miles contaminated are “currently impacted by airborne Hg (mercury) emissions originating from oilsands developments.”
The Canadian government touts Alberta’s oil sands as the third-largest proven crude oil reserve in the world, next to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The region’s heavy crude oil is mixed with clay, bitumen, and a good deal of sand — hence the name “oil sands.” This makes for a unique and energy-intensive extraction process that some scientists say produces three times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventionally produced oil. Environment Canada has said it expects production emissions from tar sands to hit 104 million tonnes of CO2 by 2020 under current expansion plans.

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