News tagged with oil sands
University team says Canadian oil sands mining plans don’t include damage to peatlands
(PhysOrg.com) -- David Schindler and colleagues at the University of Alberta have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which they detail what they believe is the true i ...
Mar 13, 2012 |
4.2 / 5 (10) |
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Oil sands digger uncovers dinosaur
A heavy equipment operator unearthed what appears to be a nearly complete plesiosaur while digging in Canada's oil sands, Syncrude announced Thursday.
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 24, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
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New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled beaches
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new, more environmentally friendly method of separating oil from tar sands has been developed by a team of researchers at Penn State. This method, which utilizes ionic liquids to separate ...
Mar 18, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (24) |
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Oil sands pollution comparable to a large power plant
It takes a lot of energy to extract heavy, viscous and valuable bitumen from Canada's oil sands and refine it into crude oil. Companies mine some of the sands with multi-story excavators, separate out the bitumen, and process ...
Feb 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
US to reject Canada pipeline: reports
The United States will Wednesday reject the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, a politically charged project that is bitterly opposed by environmentalists, news reports said.
Jan 18, 2012 |
3.4 / 5 (10) |
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Oil more easily converted into petrol thanks to a smart observational technique
Catalysts are needed to convert crude oil into petrol and other fuels. However, a technique for accurately determining how well individual catalyst particles work or continue to work was not available.
Nov 08, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
Oil sands environmental impact unknown: Canada audit
Key gaps in information mean Canada has been unable to assess the impact of exploiting Alberta's oil sands, the nation's environment commissioner said Tuesday.
Oct 05, 2011 |
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Caribou in Alberta's oil sands stressed by human activity, not wolves
Caribou have been dwindling in Alberta for several decades and some scientists believe they could be gone entirely in 70 years. In the area of the petroleum-rich Athabasca Oil Sands in the northern part of ...
Jun 22, 2011 |
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Debate stirred over 1st major US tar sands mine
(AP) -- Beneath the lush, green hills of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, where elk, bear and bison outnumber people, the soil is saturated with a sticky tar that may soon provide a new domestic source of petroleum ...
Apr 10, 2011 |
2 / 5 (3) |
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People living in communities near oil sands can breathe easy: study
Warren Kindzierski, University of Alberta researcher in the School of Public Health, says people living in the communities of Fort McMurray, Fort Mckay and Fort Chipewyan should feel confident that the air they are breathing ...
Apr 13, 2010 |
3 / 5 (1) |
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Study confirms untold levels of oil sands pollution on the Athabasca
After an exhaustive study of air and water pollution along the Athabasca River and its tributaries from Fort McMurray to Lake Athabasca, researchers say pollution levels have increased as a direct result of nearby oil sands ...
Dec 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
2
Scientists find new way to extract diluted and contaminated DNA
(PhysOrg.com) -- University of British Columbia researchers have developed a new way to extract DNA and RNA from small or heavily contaminated samples that could help forensic investigators and molecular biologists get to ...
Aug 10, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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Canada threatens trade war with EU over oil sands
Canada has threatened to lodge a World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union if the bloc labels oil from Alberta's tar sands as highly polluting, documents published Monday show.
Feb 21, 2012 |
3.8 / 5 (5) |
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Activists push for end to US-Canada pipeline plan
Thousands of protesters rallied outside the White House on Sunday to press US President Barack Obama to scrap plans for a multi-billion-dollar oil pipeline stretching from Canada to Texas.
Nov 07, 2011 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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US says may miss year-end decision on Canada pipeline
The United States said Wednesday it may fail to decide on whether to issue a permit for a proposed multi-billion dollar oil pipeline stretching from Canada to Texas by the end of 2011 as planned.
Nov 03, 2011 |
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1
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oil sands
Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen (or colloquially "tar" due to its similar appearance, odour, and colour). Oil sands are found in large amounts in many countries throughout the world, but are found in extremely large quantities in Canada and Venezuela.
The crude bitumen contained in the Canadian oil sands is described by Canadian authorities as "petroleum that exists in the semi-solid or solid phase in natural deposits. Bitumen is a thick, sticky form of crude oil, so heavy and viscous (thick) that it will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. At room temperature, it is much like cold molasses". Venezuelan authorities often refer to similar types of crude oil as extra-heavy oil, because Venezuelan reservoirs are warmer and the oil is somewhat less viscous, allowing it to flow more easily.
Oil sands reserves have only recently been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves, as higher oil prices and new technology enable them to be profitably extracted and upgraded to usable products. They are often referred to as unconventional oil or crude bitumen, in order to distinguish the bitumen extracted from oil sands from the free-flowing hydrocarbon mixtures known as crude oil traditionally produced from oil wells.
Making liquid fuels from oil sands requires energy for steam injection and refining. This process generates two to four times the amount of greenhouse gases per barrel of final product as the "production" of conventional oil. If combustion of the final products is included, the so-called "Well to Wheels" approach, oil sands extraction, upgrade and use emits 10 to 45% more greenhouse gases than conventional crude.
For more information about oil sands, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
