ALBERTA OIL SANDS

What is oil? Mostly dead plant material buried and squished underground for many years Why do we need it? To run cars, planes and some electricity generating plants What happens when it runs out? Oil is a non renewable (will run out) energy source So is natural gas which heats our homes

OIL SANDS VS DIRECT OIL DRILLING The oil is in the form of bitumen and is mixed with clay, sand and water A pump jack lifts liquid oil deposits from underground There is oil in this sand; how can we get it out?

BEFORE GASOLINE They used the mixture to coat their dwellings and seal canoes Native Canadians discovered the oil sands

HOW IS THE OIL SEPARATED FROM THE SANDS? Bitumen is the oil component of the sand, is very thick (viscous) and is removed from the sands in several different ways

IN SITU REMOVAL OF BITUMEN Because the bitumen is very thick, it cannot be pumped up by regular processes Steam can be pumped down to decrease the thickness of the bitumen so that it can be removed Natural gas is used to heat the steam – Where does natural gas come from? Can you spot a problem?

Using steam to get oil out of the sands

STRIP MINING Surface is removed to expose the sands Can you spot an environmental problem with strip mining?

Transported via a pipeline as a slurry which is a mixture of oil sands and water The slurry takes the sand to an extraction plant which separates the bitumen from the sand

AT THE EXTRACTION PLANT Hot water is added and the slurry is agitated Small air bubbles attach to bitumen droplets forming a froth which floats to the top of the separation vessels The bitumen is skimmed off the top

TAILINGS PONDS Are areas where wastes from bitumen extraction are stored They contain all kinds of toxic chemicals, including bits of oil

NEW TECHNOLOGY Very promising, because it is cheaper and less harmful on the environment (no natural gas burned, no strip mining of the landscape) Solvent extraction – a material is added to the oil sands which dissolves the oil to isolate it making it easy to recover The solvent is not wasted, it is recycled Some solvents are toxic chemicals – Can you spot the potential environmental problem?

FOR YOUR INFORMATION Alberta’s oil sands contain 85% of world’s total bitumen reserves These reserves rival the traditional oil reserves in Saudi Arabia Canadians are one of the largest consumers of oil in the world Another environmental problem - For every barrel of oil produced, 80kg of greenhouse gases are produced, examples - from using heavy equipment and natural gas to get the oil out

FAQS ABOUT GREENHOUSE GASES The Cost of Getting Oil What are they? - carbon dioxide is an example of one Where do they come from? – produced when anything is burned, eg natural gas to heat your homes, gasoline in your car Why are they a problem? – build up in the atmosphere and trap heat energy from the sun contributing to global warming What is global warming? – the rise in global air temperature NOT ONLY CAUSED by an increase in greenhouse gases

How does this cartoon link to global warming?