Green | November 25, 2008 | 8 comments

Report: Little gain from oil sands carbon capture

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AO05720081125

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JanforGore
Just like filtered cigarettes tried to make people believe it was safe to smoke, so goes the lie of carbon capture and sequestration for TAR sands. In my view, another scheme cooked up by the industry to make people think they could miraculously clean the toxic dirty elements out of their thick bitumen goo to keep the profits rolling in. There is no such thing as clean coal, and there is definitely no such thing as clean TAR sands.


From the article:

Canada-s government saw only limited opportunities to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands using carbon capture and storage technology, according to briefing notes obtained by a Canadian media.

The notes, prepared by a carbon capture task force, were used by Canadian federal and provincial politicians and were obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, which said it requested them under freedom of information legislation.

Carbon capture and storage would see carbon-dioxide removed from the emissions of oil sands upgraders that turn tar-like bitumen into refinery-ready synthetic crude. The captured CO2 would be put into underground reservoirs for permanent storage instead of being pumped into the atmosphere.

The government of Alberta and the federal government are touting carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a way clean up emissions from huge energy projects in the northern Alberta oil sands region, which contains some 173 billion barrels of tar-like bitumen.

Earlier this year Alberta set aside C$2 billion (to fund CCS projects from big emitters like oil sands upgraders and power plants

But the briefing notes say the technology offers only limited solutions to greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands projects.

Only a small percentage of emitted CO2 is capturable since most emissions aren-t pure enough, said a copy of the note that was posted on the CBC website. Only limited near-term opportunities exist in the oil sands and they largely relate to the upgrader facilities.
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8 comments // Report: Little gain from oil sands carbon capture

  • keviar
    • 0
      keviar  

    • I completely agree with you about the ecological disaster that has occurred. It should not ever of been invested in.

      Though it has, and now we as Canadians have to live with that fact. We have spilled billions of dollars into this new industry. The very notion of a boycott would send Canada's economy tumbling. And we are already in debt because of the Afghan war that the US had beckoned us to fight.

      I'm sorry, but for my sake and 35 million other people's sake. It has to be like this way for a couple more years.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Exactly. And where will it go? And what will it do to our groundwater? And how will it react to salty or brackish water should sea levels rise? I also never understood the concept of burying it as opposed to releasing it into the air. You are still making it... therein lies the deception and the illusion.

    • 3 years ago
  • Yoshi1
    • 0
      Yoshi1  

    • It confuses me to no end why we continue to do these things when in the end it will only come back to bite us. Also I don't know how we can continually devastate the natural beauty of the land just for natural resources.

      As for their plan to Capture CO2 and store it underground. Really? "Only a small percentage of emitted CO2 is 'capturable' since most emissions aren't pure enough." So that leaves some CO2 unaccounted for and they just don't care for it or what? I also have a problem with the whole burying part of the plan. How would it be stored underground and what happens if it accidentally gets released?

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Tar Sands-the New Toxic Investment

      That may be the ruination of the oil industy by their own hand as they look to this dirty toxic source to replace other oil sources as they become scarcer.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Jubal, thanks. My chutzpah comes from my mother for sure and the love for Earth she instilled in me (she was a passionate woman with a beautiful soul) and my love for my son and this planet. To know what is possible and that we have the power to make it so is all the motivation I need.

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • This is completely in line with the current culture of lying through your teeth.

      Even if the sky is falling, keep telling everybody its not and spend billions to brainwash everyone.

      Jan you are relentless, and I really like that. Thank you for your personal crusade of reporting the information day in and day out. I truly admire your chutzpah.

    • 3 years ago
  • onechance
  • JanforGore
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