drilling for oil

[mrmod]

The greatest oil source in North America, which is also the 2nd largest oil deposit in the world, after Saudi Arabia, is the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada. No drilling is required to get at it. It contains enough oil to last for centuries.

I mention this to show that there are alternatives to doing sloppy drilling in fragile coastal regions.

The processing of bitumen into synthetic crude requires energy, and currently this energy is generated by burning natural gas, which releases carbon dioxide. In 2007, the oil sands used around 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, around 40% of Alberta's total usage. Based on gas purchases, natural gas requirements are given by the Canadian Energy Resource Institute as 2.14 GJ (2.04 mcf) per barrel for cyclic steam stimulation projects, 1.08 GJ (1.03 mcf) per barrel for SAGD projects, 0.55 GJ (0.52 mcf) per barrel for bitumen extraction in mining operations not including upgrading or 1.54 GJ (1.47 mcf) per barrel for extraction and upgrading in mining operations

To get to energy, you're using energy. Sure it's viable for a while, but I think we should focus our efforts in other types of energy rather than deplete the ones we have until we find a solution.