If anyone wants a pretty good look at the craziness of our oil addiction I suggest you read "Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent" by Andrew Nikiforuk. It is a bit of a Polemic,, but it give startling insight to the economics, politics, and environmental disaster that is Northern Albertan Tar sand development. If you are "green" and you drive, you participate and this is an area where one should have one's eyes opened,, as too many North American's don't have a clue about! Icarus
Any mention of how a variety of Crown Corporations (Exempt from audit and investigation) have the Canadian taxpayer very generously subsidize those costs? Extracting oil from shale is one of the bigger boondoogles out there. If we did away with the Crown Corps, projects like around Fort Mac, the diamond mines north of Yellowknife (Eg, Snap Lake), and the Hibernia field would be priced at their true cost
Jay, Read the book, It is a scathing indictment of the whole process, and particularly the politics. The Alberta govt, is painted in a terrible light,,, and with some pretty in depth reporting,,, Ottawa,, especially under Harper doesn't fair much better. Gee,,, you think that Harper's father being a Imperial Oil exec has anything to do with his support? Ralph Klein gets the worst however. The point is, we all have some culpability,,, even Americans. Icarus PS. The economics doesn't fare well either,,,It has been referred to, as Turning gold into lead,,, using natural gas as the catalyst!
Orders of magnitude worse, To make a barrel of oil, mow down several acres of boreal forsest, ( and the carbon sink it provides(, dig up several tons of tar encased sand, pour in several barrels of northern water, heat it with 1000 cuft of piped in (relatively clean burning) natural gas, (with it's CO2 emmission!) and you are left with a barrel of refinable oil. You are also left with thousands of cu yds very toxic tailings,, with the potential to leak into the major northern river system(s) AND it becomes a killing ground for water fowl that happens upon it,,, and the tailing ponds cover hundreds going on thousands of acres. It is estimated that by the year 2030 ALL of Canada's natural gas production will go to "make" tar sand oil, leaving little or non to heat houses,, particularly in the USA. All with no formal, long term planing either local, provincial, or federal. It begs the question, why would any sane government allow this? The answer is a continuation of the corrupting petro-kleptocracy that allows crappy governments to buy off the voters with cheap tax rates. (even that sucks as the the royalties are amongst the lowest in the world!) It then begs the question as to why we don't use the natural gas directly to fuel our oil addiction? Wouldn't it be simpler to modify our infrastructure to use Nat. gas in our transport? The answer lies in the strangle hold that big oil has on our policy makers! For a nice guided tour,,, I suggest you visit Explore Alberta to have a nice cyber vacation on the lovely black sand beaches of FT. Mac! Icarus
Why do you need heating when we'll have global warming? All kidding aside, does this validate my long term retirement strategy by investing in Canadian mutual funds?
Ya know what they use the rest of the Natural Gas for ? - Distilling Ethanol. Seems pretty dumb. Natural Gas has doubled in price over the last decade.
As I have not read the book, I was simply asking a question As you may be aware, I am a very vocal critic of the Tar Sands, and especially of Crown Corporations that are exempt from audit and investigation As Harper has always been in a Minority government status, whatever he does he must do so with the blessings of the Liberals, or a combination of the NDP and Bloc. Some folks think he runs the country with no control whatsoever. I'm wondering why Dion, and now Iggy, haven't done anything but strut in front of the cameras during a scrum, boasting how wonderful they are? As an example of a Crown Corp causing problems not only here in Canada, but all around the world, is Export Development Corp. Please check out these articles ECA Watch: The Problems Not sure if you have ever watched I-Channel on Starchoice or Bell Expressvu, or on cable, but they offer very critical examination of the various government issues, hence neither Liberal or Conservative like them They used to have an excellent series on the downside of Crown Corps. It was called The Underground Royal Commission Stornoway | Communications In particular, it examined the train wreck of Crown Corp meddling in Atlantic Canada fisheries (Huge over fishing was the result), Hibernia (A money pit), and more recently a very scathing critique on tar sands production The Liberals under Chretien were involved in many shady things, such as funding - with Canadian taxpayer dollars (EDC and CIDA) - the Great Firewall of China CorpWatch : Canada: Nortel Helps Build China's Surveillance Technology Remember how Chretien really clamped down on APEC anti-Chinese protesters? How about the billions that Bombardier have received from Industry Canada, Export Development Corp, CIDA, etc? I must admit I get riled up when somebody points a finger at a brain dead Minority Government, somehow laying responsibility for decades of corrupt Crown Corp blunders squarely on their shoulders. Yet the fact exists that a lot of folks have no clue how a Parlimentary system operates. Everything is wrapped up in Committee. A Minority government will be outranked by the Opposition and other parties, eg Liberal, NDP, Bloc. It's impossible for Harper to "ram" anything through, as he could face a Non Confidence vote over a contentious issue. As far as continuted support for Tar Sands, including taxpayer funded support, this only happens with the blessings of all the parties: Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and Bloc, though usually just Conservative and Liberal I will try to find a copy of that book at my local library, and will review it
Among my more vocal criticisms, I have covered - in detail - how shale/tar sands is processed into useable oil. Especially how most of the refining is done in the US, eg Denver, as a new pipeline was built to transport the crude south of the border I've never understood why Canadians give away the kitchen sink with every deal they make. Whether do-gooder schemes in foreign countries who don't even give one s*** about you, or giving away resources (Gold, diamonds, oil, timber, yadda yadda yadda) there is a sheep-like mentality among Canadians that, quite frankly, I find very disturbing This is part of a larger problem of dumbed-down education, lack of foresight, lack of any concern whatsoever for the future, that has now infiltrated every corner of the country. Try to engage in a semi-serious discussion involving energy, economics, science, etc, I get that Deer In The Headlights look every time But mention banning Hockey Night In Canada, or Tim Horton's, then folks take to the streets with pitchforks! It's no small wonder I had to turn to the bottle This is a good article on the Mackenzie Valley gas field The Oil Drum | Oh, Canada! -- Natural Gas and the Future of Tar Sands Production Yes, where are the Official Opposition in all this, especially in Committee that determines funding? What I find very ironic is that it took two YEARS of fighting to raise the Age of Consent in this country from 14 to 16, but using up natural gas to run a scheme with EROEI <2 is with the stroke of a pen There is more markup, more middlemen, when you design a convoluted scheme involving many steps.
Back in the March issue of National Geographic, they did a story on the Canadian Tar Sand with some really good photographs showing the process and the damage it causes.
Aye. It's really shocking. The minging lakes with the automated falcons on them looked like something out of Mordor.
You do realize that is the only "plan" they have to deal with those giant man-made lakes full of toxic sludge?
How much of the responsibility for tar sands development and future strategy is at the federal level and how much at the provincial level? I recall there was turmoil over the National Energy Policy in the 70s where the federal and provincial (mainly Alberta) government knocked heads over control of oil supply and prices within Canada, so how does the situation stand today?
In theory, the actual development of Tar Sands is private by oil company and ventures. http://www.house.gov/jec/publications/109/06-26-06_oil_sands.pdf In practise, there are a large number of taxpayer subsidies from various Crown Corporations to make the tar sands look far more cost-neutral than they really are The Oil Drum: Net Energy | Unconventional Oil: Tar Sands and Shale Oil - EROI on the Web, Part 3 of 6 The Oil Drum: Canada | Tar Sands: The Oil Junkie's Last Fix, Part 1 This article makes a good point: of the $200 billion pumped into Tar Sands development, the same funds could have been FAR better spent on other energy/resource issues The true costs of the tar sands project If the tar sands was such a s*** hot bet, why the need for such massive subsidies? National Resources Defense Council NRDC: Controversial Oil Substitutes Sharply Increase Emissions, Devour Landscapes I've often found myself shaking my head in amazement at how Canadians give away the kitchen sink, in business deals with other nations. Some folks like to be do-gooders, but I was taught to solve my own problems before helping solve others Similar issues exist with Hibernia, gold and diamond extraction in the North, and funding for very oppressive projects all over the world. Like the copper mining in Chile that Canadians very generously paid for , courtesy of Industry Canada, Export Development Corp, and Canadian International Development Agency, all crown corporations exempt from audit and investigation Chile Secret Laws | Pinochet biography, Pinochet Chile CorpWatch : CANADA: Gov't Urged to Rein in Mining Sector There are many more examples, such as http://www.amnesty.ca/themes/resources/bhr/ai_submission_EDC_review_2008.pdf What I find disturbing is that the average Canadian is blissfully ignorant of these activities
