Athabasca Oil Sands

Oil sands, defined simply are a mixture of water, sand, clay, and natural bitumen. Natural bitumen is a heavily viscous oil, which must undergo specialized procedures in order to be extracted. While oil sands occur in many places in the world, the largest such occurrence is located in the forests of Northern Alberta. This area is referred to as the Alberta Oil Sands, or the Athabasca Oil Sands. Oil sands were not always included when estimating the world’s recoverable oil reserves. It is only in relatively recent years that technology has improved enough to efficiently extract and refine the bitumen into a synthetic crude oil. The Athabasca region was first inhabited by a variety of First Nation’s and Cree tribes. While the indigenous…

The Athabasca oil sands, more commonly known as the Alberta tar sands, are large deposits of heavy crude oil in the North Easterly reaches of Alberta. According to Alberta Energy, the oil sands are the third largest crude oil reserves in the world. Only two countries, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, possess reserves greater than Canada (Alberta Energy, 2012). Arguably, the capital gained from exporting Athabasca bitumen or crude oil (a form of petroleum) promotes job and economic growth, and also…

Located in northeastern Alberta (Pasqualetti 2009, p. 248) are the “largest oil-sand deposits in the world” (Pasqualetti 2009, p. 250). The Alberta oil sands provide a necessary resource that is valuable to the Albertan and Canadian economies. The oil sands have received ample attention in recent years from the media and from various environmental agencies and groups due to “growing concern about a range of environmental impacts” (Jordaan 2012, p. 3611). These concerns are not without merit, as…

Another factor to consider is the boom in petroleum-based commodities of the last decade, and the role that oil companies such as Petro-Canada plays from an environmental perspective. With the rapid expansions in petroleum comes many impacts to the environment as well as to society as a whole. There has been shifting economic landscape and government regulations to control the boom in this period. The world is dependent on fossil fuels for 80 percent of its energy, but at the same time, it is…

Latitude, evils of society, Alberta oil sands, and the UN affects Canada physically and culturally. Physically, latitude affects the climate. Culturally, the evils of society affect the way people think about Canada. However, Canada does have some positive factors; such as the oil industry and being apart of the UN. The oil industry is one of Canada’s top industry and trade, which might have contributed to Canada being one of the leaders in the UN, Canada is seen as the peacekeepers. Latitude…

often not viewed as a priority, which allows for many individuals to cause damaging effects such as the creation of the Alberta tar sands in order to economically benefit as mentioned. Currently, the world is already facing various threats such as climate change due to an increase in green house gasses and the tar sands only further contributes to this increase. The tar sands are responsible for approximately 8.5 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions (“Energy Alberta”, n.d).…

Arctic Enterprises is an ATV, side by side, and snowmobile company. This Company's first name was Polar Manufacturing, but was soon changed to Arctic Enterprises. Arctic cat went bankrupt in 1982. Arctco, a new company took over Arctic Enterprises to keep producing Arctic cat machines, Two year after the bankrupt. Arctco was so successful they changed there name to Arctic Enterprises and kept selling Arctic Cat machines. The first Arctic Cat snowmobile was launched in 1961, and Arctic…

Oil and coal have been sustaining our province for decades. These resources have always been a reliable go-to in Alberta’s economy. But how much longer will these last? Oil and coal are in fact, a non-renewable resource. Sooner or later these two resources that have brought Alberta fame and fortune, will diminish. Wind energy is the perfect solution for our next economic boom. Wind is a form of solar energy that is caused by many different attributes of the earth and atmosphere. These…

significant leap to change their ways before it too late and thrive to become environmental stewards. Alberta oil sand is a prime example of how humans play a crucial role in the destruction of the environment. Alberta oil sand is one of the largest industrial projects in the world and mostly known as “the biggest environmental crime” in history. However, over the years there is been various debate concerning the Alberta oil sand and its effects on the environment. The procedure of mining oil…

“Tarmageddon”, an essay authored by Andrew Nikiforuk, demonstrates how the tar sands have negatively impacted Canada both economically and environmentally. The environmental factors are elaborated by explaining Canada’s contribution to green house emissions and acid rain when they were once a global leader against such pollutions. Nikiforuk compares Canada as being second worst for climate change next to Saudi Arabia since they started using bitumen. He highlights the politics surrounding the…