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Environment, Energy and Economies - A Canadian Primer: ENVIRONMENT ENERGY AND ECONOMIES (EEE) Ray Hamm

Energy and environment and economy have always been tied together. The present world economy is built on cheap energy, on not paying the real cost. Ending slavery removed an earlier major source of cheap energy.   This brought major turmoil.


Peak oil production, running out of oil, was a concern some years ago. Now with new technologies and shale oil and tar sands oil, there is plenty of oil. This is good because there will probably continue to essential needs for oil in industry and society in the future. The REAL concern is about what happens to climate for us and for the children of tomorrow if we continue to use fossil fuels at the present rate. GHG and single use plastics are not good gifts to our children.


Extracting, mining, refining, transporting energy takes energy. Always there is some loss, some waste and some by-products. Using energy drives the economy, it drives our cars and there are byproducts. Using coal, oil, gasoline and diesel fuel produces carbon. For a long, long time, things were fine. It seems that after 1950, there has been too much, too fast.


With proven oil reserves of 170 billion barrels, Canada stands in third position in the world, with a 9.8% share of the global oil resource, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and just ahead of Iran and Iraq.

Canada produces 2% of global GHG. The oil sands account for 12% of Canadian GHG, that is approx 0.25% of global GHG/

Oil sands deposits in the province of Alberta account for approx 97% of Canadian oil reserves. The province also holds a considerable amount of conventional oil resources. The oil sands accounted for 63% of Canada’s oil production in 2019. The oil sands have an estimated $325 billion of capital investment to date, including $10.2 billion in 2019. 

For conventional oil, for most oil up to this point, for energy production, the average return on energy invested is 25 to 1. For oil from the Canadian tar sands it is very different. Extracting, upgrading and refining tar sands oil has a return of 10 to 1, according to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. When measured by US and international standards, this goes down to 1.1 to 1. Underground mining of the tar sands is much less energy efficient than surface mining. (Be careful of definitions and time periods when reading reports from different agencies. It needs to be recognized that there are different ‘mines’ and different technologies, different efficiencies.)


Do not listen to or be taken in by talk of carbon capture. Current technology can provide only a small bucket for the volume to be removed. It is like the oil industry promoting recycling. It is a good and necessary idea but they knew from the start that is was not a feasible (economic) solution to plastic pollution, In the meantime, it seemed like action and it allowed delay and denial. Carbon capture is good but be realistic about what is needed and what carbon capture can achieve.


Do not look to current nuclear technology for answers. Nuclear waste is already a problem in our world.


Plain and simple, we must reduce use of fossil fuels   NO new exploration, no new wells, no expansion of the oil sands. NO delays.


To change direction for the fossil fuel industry in Canada and in the world will take a lot of political will and money. The global, international, picture is huge. To turn this ship is hard, but necessary and critical. Imagine better ways. Hunger and thirst for better ways. Create public support for government and industrial initiatives to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

ACAN seeks to educate and inspire sustainable practices in our community.

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