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.
Take a lesson from ... Canada's Liberal leader?
By NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN
Feb 28, 2009
Iggy's Great Canadian Oilsands Tour hit Alberta again last week.
He said soothing things like: "here in the west is where the destiny of our country's economy will be played out."
Or better still, telling the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce: "the oilsands are an integral part of the future of Canada."
Harper rolls dice to play oil sands 'wild card'
Mar 02, 2009
Tyler Hamilton
ENERGY REPORTER
Canada's oil and gas sector is a crucial engine of our economy and isn't going away, so any technologies that help reduce or capture emissions are both welcome and necessary.
But can these technologies help us right now, particularly to justify rapid expansion of oil-sands projects? And, taken alone, are they enough?
Three charged in death of philanthropist
PETER CHENEY
Globe and Mail
March 2, 2009
TORONTO — Three men have been arrested and charged in the 2007 shooting death of wealthy Toronto philanthropist Glen Davis, opening a dramatic new chapter in a long-stalled murder mystery.
“This was a lengthy and complex investigation,” said Staff Inspector Brian Raybould of the Toronto Police Homicide squad.
Crude Business in Colombia
Alberta's oil and gas sector gets behind the Free Trade push
February 25, 2009
by Dawn Paley
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA–When Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day
signed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Peru on
November 21, it was a happy day for Canada’s oil and gas sector, but
the deal was celebrated by its signatories as a landmark for human
rights and democracy in Colombia.
“Deepening both economic and political engagement between our
countries is the best way Canadians can support the citizens of
*Oilsands will never get a fair shake*
*Lamphier:* I've always had a thing for National Geographic. Without
access to its pictures, I'm sure I would have flunked Grade 5 geography.
My projects on the Great Pyramids of Egypt or the lost Incan city of
Machu Picchu would have been a crashing bore. I know that in my heart.
_*MORE...*
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Business/Oilsands+will+never+fair+shake/1...
* Canada needs the oil sands*
*NP:* National Geo-graphic magazine's current ar ticle on Al -berta's
Tories, Liberals defend oil sands
Feb 25, 2009
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – Conservatives and Liberals both came to the defence of Alberta's oilsands today, responding to a stark 20-page spread in this month's National Geographic magazine.
The article, "The Canadian oil boom: Scraping the bottom," details the environmental and social problems around the oilsands, as well as an explanation of the extraction process.
TransCanada has eyes on California as possible future market
CALGARY - TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) sees California as a potential future market for Canadian crude oil, an executive with the Calgary-based pipeline giant said Tuesday.
The company has a long-term proposal to ship crude from Northern Alberta's oilsands region down to energy-hungry California, said Steve Becker, TransCanada's vice-president of pipeline development.
This Op-Ed was refused publication by the New York Times.
by Charles Hall and Nate Gagnon
EROEI.com (March 23 2007)
Op-Ed Editor, New York Times:
The recent front page article "Oil innovations pump new life into old
wells" by Jad Mouawad (March 5 page 1) is dangerously misleading. The
author would have us believe that technological innovations will
increase the proportion of oil recoverable from known fields
sufficiently to compensate for the dearth of new discoveries. It gives
a false sense of security about our difficult oil situation based on a
It’s time to rethink harmful tar sands projects
By Roy Strang - Peace Arch News
February 17, 2009
There may, after all, be a small silver lining in the dark fiscal cloud hanging over us.
It’s so small that it’s hard to discern amidst the monetary gloom, but it’s there nonetheless.
The unspoken part of this "unpalatable" duality is that green-minded folks have just such an equally repulsive "choice". Either be "unreasonable" and "not a part of the solution" by pointing out that CCS and all other Climate Change in the tar sands "solutions" are nonsense, especially when one sees the forms of emissions yet to come from the In Situ developments. There is no solving the climate crisis, preventing deforestation, preserving the Mackenzie River Basin or using the remaining natural gas on Turtle Island in a sane manner-- unless we also prevent the tar sands from operating.
