Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The amount of recoverable oil from Canadian tar sands is estimated
by the Alberta government to be 174 billion barrels, equivalent to about
10 percent of the bitumen in place. However, oil companies report they
can easily recover 60 percent of the bitumen using proven technology,
meaning that the estimate of 174 billion barrels is extremely conserva-
tive. The United States imported 780,000 barrels a day of tar sands oil
in 2008, 60 percent of production. Oil output from the tar sands was
1.2 million barrels in 2008 and is expected to reach 3.3 million barrels
a day by 2015. At this rate of production, the reserves would last over
400 years. Environmentally conscious President Obama, not wanting to
irritate our major oil supplier, has pointed out that tar sands oil produc-
tion can be made clean by capture of the carbon dioxide produced during
refi ning. There is no suitable technology for this yet.
Production costs for Albertan tar sand are $25 per barrel, compared
to $15 in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and $5 in the Middle
East. The minimum of 174 billion barrels of oil recoverable from the tar
sands in Canada is somewhat less than Saudi Arabia's claims of 260
million barrels of traditional crude oil, although only the Saudis have
access to actual fi eld data, and many Western companies question the
Saudi claim.
Venezuela, currently America's third largest supplier of imported oil,
may have even more recoverable tar sand than Canada, although it lies
deeper than the Canadian deposits and must all be recovered by under-
ground mining. The published estimate of 300 million barrels of bitumen
is largely guesswork. President Chavez has more than once threatened
to stop sending Venezuela's oil to the United States, but oil is fungible,
making such threats almost meaningless.
Alternatives to Petroleum in Motor Vehicles
For most uses, oil, natural gas, and coal are interchangeable, a prominent
exception being fuel for motor vehicles, where only refi ned petroleum
(gasoline or diesel fuel) or natural gas can be used. Nearly all the world's
fl eet of more than 800 million cars and trucks (96 percent) are fueled by
gasoline or diesel fuel, products that most scientists believe are major
causes of global warming and air pollution. About a quarter of the motor
vehicles are owned by Americans.
Some cities have adapted their municipal vehicles to use compressed
natural gas; they can then be refueled at central municipal locations.
Natural gas is less suitable than gasoline or diesel fuel for most personal
and commercial cars and trucks. There are very few refueling stations
