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.
U.S. on 'monorail with a cliff at the end,' UA prof warns
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2008 10:37 PM
Guy R. McPherson is professor of conservation biology at the University of Arizona.
McPherson was the guest last week on Live Talk Wednesday, discussing dwindling oil supplies and what awaits the American Empire. Here are excerpts from the interview, which can be found in its entirety at aztalk.azcentral.com.
The rise of the new energy world order
Apr 17, 2008
By Michael T Klare
Oil prices hit 114 dollars a barrel
5 hours ago
Crude oil prices rose to a new record above 114 US dollars a barrel as investors opted for commodities over a weaker dollar.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery reached 114.53 dollars in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before falling back slightly.
The latest spike followed on from Tuesday's record-breaking run above the 113-dollar mark.
Enbridge gets approval to expand oil pipeline
Apr 16, 2008 04:30 AM
Enbridge Inc., Canada's largest pipeline company, has received regulatory approval to expand an existing oil pipeline in Alberta to reduce the chance of a bottleneck as tar-sands output rises.
The expansion's capacity will be 880,000 barrels a day, Canada's National Energy Board said yesterday in a written decision on the agency's website. Attached to the approval were 15 conditions, including a requirement to file an environmental protection plan before starting work.
Alberta Oil Sands affect the environment
COLBY STREAM
News Writer
"Problems don't stop at the border," Co-Director of Boise State Canadian Studies Lori Hausegger said. "They go across the border, so that's an issue everyone has to think about."
Canada week, which takes place the first week of April every year, addresses some of these problems.
"Canada week helps, I think, to educate folks and Boise State … about Canada. People don't know a whole lot about the country," Co-Director of Boise State Canadian Studies Ross Burkhart said.
Suncor Energy reports oil sands production numbers for March 2008
CALGARY, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Suncor Energy Inc. reported today that production at its oil sands facility during March averaged approximately 248,000 barrels per day (bpd). Year-to-date oil sands production at the end of March averaged approximately 247,000 bpd. Suncor is targeting average oil sands production of 275,000 to 300,000 bpd in 2008.
BP, ConocoPhillips team up on North Slope gas pipeline
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 | 3:56 PM CT
The Canadian Press
Two of the world's largest oil companies announced plans Tuesday to jointly develop a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline to move North Slope natural gas to U.S. markets through Canada.
Britain's BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, said they plan to spend $600 million US in the first phase of the project over the next three years.
Canada is in the middle of a quiet oil boom
Tar sands, long too expensive to process, help make it major U.S. source
By Peter Klein
CNBC
updated 2:29 p.m. MT, Mon., April. 7, 2008
Ft. McMurray, Alberta - With oil prices hovering near a hundred dollars a barrel, there’s a major oil boom underway. It’s not happening in the sweltering heat of Texas or the dry desert of Saudi Arabia, but on the frozen Canadian tundra where oil producers are developing a new source of fossil fuel.
Vancouver Sun April 3, 2008
Climate change ‘seriously underestimated’ by UN
Curbing emissions more daunting than panel reported: study
Margaret Munro
The United Nations' celebrated climate change panel has "seriously
underestimated" the challenge of curbing global CO2 emissions, say Canadian
and U.S. researchers.
Radical "decarbonization" of the global energy system is needed to stabilize
emissions -- a task that is much more daunting than the panel has led the
world to believe, the researchers report in journal Nature today.
The Peak Oil Crisis: Load shedding
by Tom Whipple
Fall Church News-Press (March 27 2008)
Largely unnoticed in America are the increasingly frequent electricity
shortages developing around the world.
Many of these are caused by shifting weather patterns that are leaving
hydro-electric dams with insufficient water to produce at full capacity.
While some aspects of global climate change are temporary, many, such as
the melting of glaciers, seem destined to last for decades, or perhaps
centuries, thereby depriving the world of some of the best sources of
