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The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventional oil in the world, making Canada a significant player in the global energy market. [27]
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventional oil in the world, making Canada a significant player in the global energy market.
[16] [17] Also Israel, Romania and Russia have run oil shale-fired power plants, but have shut them down or switched to other fuels like natural gas. [1] [16] [18] Jordan and Egypt have announced their plans to construct oil shale-fired power plants, while Canada and Turkey plan to burn oil shale at the power plants along with coal. [1] [16] [19]
Tar sands get a lot of bad press, much of it to do with the fact that the extraction and processing of tar sands bitumen creates a lot more pollution than other fuel sources.
The Tar Sand Triangle is the largest deposit of oil sands in the United States known today. It contains about 6.3 billion barrels of heavy oil, but is thought to have originally held more. At one point the Tar Sand Triangle could have consisted of 16 billion barrels of heavy oil, almost as much as in Utah today. [3]
Tar sands have affected over 75% of the habitat in the Alberta taiga forest due to the clearing of the forests and the oil ponds that come from the extraction. These tar sands also create awful toxic oil ponds that affect wildlife and surrounding vegetation. Oil extraction also affects the forest soil, which harms tree and plant growth.
Surface mining and in-situ processing requires extensive land use. Mining, processing, and waste disposal require land to be withdrawn from traditional uses, and therefore should avoid high density population areas. [3] Oil shale mining reduces the original ecosystem diversity with habitats supporting a variety of plants and animals.
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