Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Energy

Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /var/www/drupal-6.28/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 33.

PNWER Summit Luxury Boat Tour Blocked by Activists

ATTENTION: ALL NEWS EDITORS

==> Pictures attached of 2nd Protest Against PNWER Summit

==> No Smooth Sailing for PNWER Elites: Marina Entrance Blocked by Activists

==> Activists cite lack of transparent process and public consultation in
PNWER decision making given wide scope of policy impacts from 2010 Olympics
to oil and gas mining

Wednesday July 23, 2008 Vancouver- A group of activists blocked access to
the Westin Bayshore marina today to protest the Pacific NorthWest Economic
Region (PNWER) summit. In doing so, they prevented delegates from boarding a

PNWER study on Energy "recommendations" for the Region

Nukes for the tar sands, massive new hydro projects in BC & AB, natural gas pipelines, new coal plants & more! And if we don't do this? Well, according to PNWER: blackouts, job losses and extreme price increases will occur! Be afraid, consume, and forget about everything else. This is to "help" stop climate change we are told. Coal, tar sands, these are now "solutions". Don't think about it, or else you will get a headache...

--M

*****

Russia and Venezuela to Coordinate on Energy

Russia and Venezuela Will Coordinate on Energy
By ANNE BARNARD // NYTimes
Published: July 23, 2008

MOSCOW — President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia declared Tuesday that their countries would more closely coordinate their actions on global oil and gas markets and that they would work together on foreign policy, a sphere in which both countries have sought to counter American influence.

Will Offshore Drilling Help?

July 23, 2008
Will Offshore Drilling Help?
by Tam Hunt, Community Environmental Council

With oil prices topping new records every week, the chorus for increasing offshore drilling is growing. Will it help?

Canadian energy policy "Made in USA"

Canadian energy policy "Made in USA"
The window may be closing on what's left of Canadian decision-making power over our own energy.
Dateline: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
by Linda McQuaig

When Americans want something that lies in another country, the consequences for that other country can be severe.

Even if they don't actually invade, they put a lot of pressure on lesser countries to behave as they want.

The future of the oil sands is one of the most important and contentious issues facing Canada.

Alter NRG plans to build $4.5-billion coal-to-liquids plant (Alberta)

Calgary upstart to turn coal into liquid fuel
Alter NRG plans to build $4.5-billion coal-to-liquids plant that would produce 40,000 barrels a day of fuel by 2014
NORVAL SCOTT

July 23, 2008

CALGARY -- For most energy companies, figuring how to best turn Alberta's vast oil sands into lucrative gasoline is challenging enough. But Alter NRG Corp. is looking to go one better.

Suncor gets go ahead to ramp up Firebag In-Situ plant production

CALGARY, Jul 23, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) ----Suncor Energy Inc. reports that, effective July 22, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has removed production constraints imposed on Suncor's Firebag in-situ oil sands operations.

Alaska votes to award TCPL The Alaska Highway Pipeline

Alaska House OKs gas pipeline license for TransCanada Corp.
11 hours ago

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska State House of Representatives has approved a state license for a Canadian company to pursue a natural gas pipeline project that could unlock 130 million cubic metres of North Slope gas reserves daily.

The House backed the plan on a 24-16 vote Tuesday. A reconsideration vote is planned Wednesday, but that's usually a formality. If approved then, the bill will go to the state Senate, which must approve or reject it before Aug. 2.

Why Alberta’s $4 billion greenwash doesn’t add up to much of anything

Issues - 2 + 2 = 5
Why Alberta’s $4 billion greenwash doesn’t add up to much of anything

RICARDO ACUÑA / ualberta.ca/parkland

It seems lately that the role of government in Alberta has become more and more about image and spin than about actually doing anything concrete and positive in the public interest. The attitude seems to be that it doesn’t really matter if you are actually doing anything positive, as long as you can convince people that you are.

Understanding Energy Return On Energy Investment (EROEI)

Understanding Energy Return On Energy Investment (EROEI)
POSTED July 15, 3:47 PM
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Energy Return On Energy Investment (EROEI) is an important concept to understand and a concept that is severely lacking in our current political debate on new energy sources.

EROEI is simply defined as:

EROEI = Energy Produced / Energy Used