Impacts and Mitigations of In Situ Bitumen Production from Alberta Oil Sands

摘要

Going forward, most new oil sands development in Alberta will be in situ projects.Environmental impacts from in situ projects are reasonable and responsible in relation to:1. absolute/cumulative local impacts2. international norms & intensities3. an exacting regulatory environmentCarbon dioxide emissions from (successful) Alberta in situ oil sands development currently exceed the life-cycle emissions due to conventional crude sources, by about 10-15%. Bitumen produced by mining causes only about 5% excess life-cycle CO_2.The efficiency of SAGD (steam) technology is about to get a material boost from solvent additives, cutting emissions by as much as half.In situ plants make natural cogeneration hosts. By replacing coal-fired power, cogeneration renders in situ bitumen carbon-equivalent to any available source of crude.