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.
Australian government report: Peak oil is real, get ready
by The Honourable Andrew McNamara
Future Oil Supply Uncertainty Highlighted
Media Release from the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation
A report tabled in State Parliament today highlights the need for Queensland industry, primary producers and communities to lessen their dependence on imported oil supplies.
A Tale of Two Cities: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Fort McMurray
To the Tar Sands
The Bad
Fort Muck: place of sex, drugs, violence, homelessness, massive trucks, polluted air and contaminated water. This is what we were told we would find at the end of deadly Highway 63, or in our case Secondary Highway 881. The city of 70 000 has been growing at a most alarming rate. In response, city council has gone so far as to call for a moratorium on new developments. The municipality simply can not keep up with endless stream of new arrivals and the associated demand for services.
Road to Riches: Pipeline Through Paradise
News: The race to claim Arctic fuel reserves could revive the proposed Mackenzie River Valley pipeline.
By James Ridgeway
October 10, 2007
Commissioners say they're not against pipeline
Oct 10, 2007 - 04:01:41 CDT
Associtaed Press
County commissioners along the route of a proposed oil pipeline from Canada held an impromptu meeting with Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer to tell him they're not all against the plan.
About two dozen commissioners met Monday night with Cramer while in Bismarck for the Association of Counties convention.
AFX News Limited
Total to invest 1 bln usd a year in oil sands in Canada
10.11.07, 12:06 PM ET
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - French group Total is to invest 1 bln usd annually over the next few years in extracting oil from sand deposits in Canada, chairman Thierry Desmarest told an energy conference.
Desmarest said that by 2010 around 10 pct of worldwide oil production will come from oil sands and that this source of production is set to grow.
He underlined these oil sands are located in Canada, a country that does not pose any 'political problems'.
It's not just Alberta, it's the whole country
ANDREW NIKIFORUK
October 6, 2007
review: STUPID TO THE LAST DROP By William Marsden
How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn't Seem to Care)
The Globe and Mail
The tar sands
Canada's version of liquid coal
Posted by Joseph Romm
11 Oct 2007
Canada has about as much recoverable oil in its tar sands as Saudi Arabia has conventional oil. They should leave most of it in the ground.
Tar sands are pretty much the heavy gunk they sound like, and making liquid fuels from them requires huge amounts of energy for steam injection and refining. Canada is currently producing about one million barrels of oil a day from the tar sands, and that is projected to triple over the next two decades.
TRANSPORT REVOLUTIONS
Moving people and freight without oil
by Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl
To be published by Earthscan in December 2007
(scroll down for an overview and for advance ordering information)
Richard Gilbert
Consultant on Urban Issues
focusing on transport, energy, waste management,
and urban governance
Web site: http://www.richardgilbert.ca
Anthony Perl
Professor of Political Science
Director, Urban Studies Program
Simon Fraser University
OVERVIEW
Everyone’s Downstream: Tar Sands Realities and Resistance
Conference to be held at:
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
November 24-25th, 2007
http://oilsandstruth.org
A Quest for Energy in the Globe’s Remote Places
By JAD MOUAWAD
HAMMERFEST, Norway — For a quarter-century, energy executives were tantalized by vast quantities of natural gas in one of the world’s least hospitable places — 90 miles off Norway’s northern coast, beneath the Arctic Ocean.
Bitter winds and frequent snowstorms lash the region. The sun disappears for two months a year. No oil company knew how to operate in such a harsh environment.
