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.
Peak Oil And World Food Supplies
By Peter Goodchild
29 June, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Only about 10 percent of the world’s land surface is arable, whereas the other 90 percent is just rock, sand, or swamp, which can never be made to produce crops, whether we use “high” or “low” technology or something in the middle. In an age with diminishing supplies of oil and other fossil fuels, this 10:90 ratio may be creating two gigantic problems that have been largely ignored.
Mackenzie pipeline timing 'uncertain'
Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 29, 2009
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - When the Mackenzie Gas Project will begin producing natural gas - originally thought to be 2014 - is now "uncertain" due to regulatory delays, said Pius Rolheiser, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, adding that the project timeline will be revisited after the release of the Joint Review Panel's report.
Tribal members fight Enbridge oil pipeline
Some members from Fond du Lac and Leech Lake bands will petition Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to block the Enbridge project.
By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune
Saying the environmental damage to their native brothers’ land in Canada is too great, tribal dissidents on two Minnesota Indian reservations are battling a major new oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.
UPDATE: Shell To Become Most CO2-Intensive Oil Co -Study
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is on track to become the most carbon intensive international oil company because of its focus on unconventional oil resources like Canadian tar sands, said a study published by a coalition of environmental groups Monday.
"In the age of carbon reduction, Shell is fast heading in the opposite direction, massively increasing the carbon intensity of its production of oil and gas," the report said. "This represents a real risk for Shell, for investors and for the climate."
Could tar sands be behind high rates of cancer in Fort Chipewyan?
By Stephanie Dearing.
Published June 29, 2009
Is the extraction of oil from Alberta's tar sands responsible for the disproportionate increase in cancers in a down-stream community?
A northern Alberta First Nations community, sited down river from the tar sands, is suffering from a higher-than-normal incidence of cancer. Dr. John O'Connor was instrumental in drawing attention to the cancer rate. So why is he seen as a bad guy?
TransCanada gains full ownership of Keystone pipeline
29 June 2009
TransCanada has announced its acquisition of ConocoPhillips' remaining stake in the Keystone pipeline for US$550 million (€392 million), giving it full control over the new Canada-to-US oil pipeline.
The $5.2 billion Keystone line is designed to carry 435,000 barrels of crude a day over a distance of 3,456 km from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in southern Illinois, US.
Cap-and-trade does more harm than good
Bill offers incentives for businesses that pollute.
Jun. 24, 2009 // Philadelphia Inquirer.
By Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel
We would support legislation in Congress to address climate change if it were capable of accomplishing that goal. Unfortunately, despite the best intentions of its proponents, the bill known as Waxman-Markey would disable our ability to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions for at least a decade, hugely increasing the risk of irreversible climate calamity.
BP shuts alternative energy HQ
• 'Beyond Petroleum' boast in doubt as clean energy boss quits
• Renewables budget will be reduced by up to £550m this year
Terry Macalister
Guardian.co.uk,
Sunday 28 June 2009
BP has shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed budget cuts in moves likely to be seen by environmental critics as further signs of the oil group moving "back to petroleum".
Group Wants To Stop Planned Pipeline
Jun 26, 2009 at 6:14 PM CDT
Some members of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe have joined forces with members of the Fond Du Lac band in an effort to stop a planned Enbridge Energy oil pipeline from crossing their reservations.
Spokespeople with the groups say the pipeline will transport dirty oil and they fear a contaminating oil spill.
Enbridge spokespeople say they already have legal agreements with Fond du Lac and Leech Lake tribal councils to allow the Alberta Clipper pipeline to cross reservation land.
Local work helping western oil sands
By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch // June 26, 2009
It’s big, it looks complicated, it’s worth a half a million dollars and it’s an integral part of Thunder Bay’s economic future.
On Friday Venshore Mechanical Ltd. unveiled one of two fuel offloading modules it has built – with the assistance of several other local-area companies – and plans to deliver to western Canada for use in the multi-billion oil sands project.
