Rev 23 Jan 2012
Paris based International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new “World Energy Outlook 2011” (WEO 2011) report states key issues to curbing global warming “infrastructure lock-in” of the “carbon budget.” Carbon budget refers to the contribution of various sources of carbon dioxide on the planet. Carbon budget has nothing to do with political agendas, climate change legislation, economies, or jobs. Carbon budget is a physical geophysical event. Exceeding the carbon budget means Earth’s systems of temperature regulation are in thermal runaway; Earth shall exceed habitable temperatures 2050-2099 Christan Era (CE).
Infrastructure coal plants and oil extraction methods in countries of China, India, Europe, Canada, the U.S., and other nations are rapidly being constructed right now. Carbon infrastructures last more than 50 years resulting in nation’s hydrocarbon economies locking-in the global carbon budget. An important part of carbon budget infrastructure lock-in is Canada’s proposed oil-sand extraction methods for the proposed north-south Keystone XL pipeline. Oil-sand extraction greenhouse gases emitted add significantly to the global warming carbon budget.
A large time lag to rebuild a clean energy infrastructure results in a delayed Earth temperature responses to emitted now greenhouse gases. Once we edge near carbon dioxide level of 450 ppm it becomes imposable to turn off the global warming effects of the 1750 CE to date human hydrocarbon energy used (coal, oil, natural gas) with natural methane/carbon dioxide release. The IEA found we are about five years away from building enough carbon-spewing infrastructures to lock-in a hydrocarbon infrastructure and make it extremely difficult — if not impossible — to avoid greatly exceeding 450-ppm carbon dioxide. Natural Arctic Region methane emissions effects the temperature increase and is a greenhouse gas variable that needs close consideration.
Global warming locking-in of the global carbon budget point of no-return comes around 2017 CE.
Canadian crude oil extraction methods adds to the global carbon budget. Crude oil extrication from bitumen results in a measurable factor of global warming temperature increase over the near term and far term.
Keystone XL Pipeline
Canada has over 170 billion barrels of oil recoverable with today's technology, making it second only to Saudi Arabia as an oil resource country.
The U.S. $13 billion Keystone pipeline system was/is to play an important role in linking a secure and growing supply of Canadian crude oil with the largest refining markets in the United States, significantly improving North American security energy supply. Proposed ‘Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project’ would begin at Alberta Canada and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Keystone Pipeline (Phase II) is through Nebraska and Kansas to serve markets at Cushing, Oklahoma before continuing through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace.
Keystone XL is one of TWO PROJECTS that oil sands producers have been counting on to boost returns. Canada now exports about 2 million barrels of oil a day, almost all to the United States. Government and industry officials say a major delay in PROJECT #1 north to south Keystone XL decision would prompt increased efforts to push forward PROJECT #2 east to west Enbridge Inc's C$ 5.5 billion (US$ 5.5 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline across British Columbia to the West Coast, where more than half a million barrels of crude a day could be loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asia.
If Alberta's oil sands, the world’s third largest oil reserve were combined with U.S. oil reserves they would be more than adequate for American oil independence from outside North America oil importation.
Oil Sand Bitumen Emissions
Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is further upgraded into finished products. Alberta crude oil production is expected to grow strongly, but could be limited by the “global greenhouse gas emissions budget.” Oil sand extraction uses hydrocarbon heat (oil/natural gas) extraction, which emits much greenhouse gases. Global warming gases are vented when synthetic oil is extracted from bitumen and also from standing open pit mining.
Some synthetic oil adverse greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated by using nuclear energy to heat bitumen and incorporation of a capture process for vented bitumen greenhouse gases.
Oil sands synthetic oil extraction incorporates both mining ("conventional" methods) and in-situ (“non-conventional”) production methods. Mining excavation of the bitumen-rich sand uses open pit mining methods which is the most efficient method of extraction (ie, least costly) when there are large deposits of bitumen with little overburden. In-situ methods involve processing the oil sand deposit so that the bitumen is removed while the sand remains in place. Oil heat extraction from bitumen can be used for both mining and in-situ. In-situ methods are used for oil sands that are too deep to support surface mining operations to an economical degree. 80% of the resource in Northern Alberta oil sands lies deep below surface overburden.
Open pit strip mining remains is least costly main extraction method, but two in situ techniques are likely to be used more in the future: cyclic steam stimulation and steam-assisted gravity drainage. Injected steam into the formation heats bitumen, allowing it to flow and be pumped to the surface or extracted from Canadian Athabasca Oil Sands. Oil sand processing can produce significant (massive) amounts of global warming gases.
Nuclear power could make steam and electricity for extracting sand oil. A proposal suggests that a single Candu 6 reactor configured to produce 75% steam and 25% electricity would replace 6 million cubic metres (220 terajoule (TJ)) per day of natural gas and support production of 175-200,000 barrels per day of oil. Nuclear heating would save the emission of 3.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. (European Union CO2 emissions in 2008 was 4.2 million metric tonnes, U.S. emission 7.1 million metric tonnes.) Canadian oil output from tar sands is forecast to reach three million barrels per day.
Given the limitations of supplying steam over more than 25 km (15.5 miles), small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) with capacities of some around 100 MWe could be more suitable for individual oil extraction and heating projects. U.S. experience of small light water reactors (LWRs) has been of very small military power plants, such as the reactor which operated at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica 1962-72, generating a total of 78 million kWh. There was also an Army program for small reactor development, and some successful small reactors from the main national program commenced in the 1950s. One was the Big Rock Point operated for 35 years to 1997. Anti nuclear politics has for decades increased costs of nuclear power and has opposed U.S. nuclear energy development and small light water reactor development.
Problem with any proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the bitumen steam extraction process is that the process increases the oil cost per barrel. Decades of selling “alternative renewable energy” was left Democrats’ stated U.S. national energy policy. U.S. left Democrats, President Obama, anti-nuclear groups, and “environmentalist” opposed both completing the Keystone XL pipeline and also opposed developing clean nuclear energy as part of U.S. energy planning. It will take at least two years of planning, R&D, and development to devise an effective alternative to decades of alternative-energy promotion; that leaves only three years of clean infrastructure implementation to correct for global 2017 CE carbon-budget lock-in. An increasing relevant problem is that all government department data and reporting on global warming is suspect of containing significant errors and omissions. Internet hacking is an increasing problem to public and private information integrity. Until information errors and omissions are corrected, there can be no reliable global warming energy planning. Due to decades of delays and abuses, correcting global warming temperature increase is going to be very expensive.
With left Democrat neo communists locked into conflicting unreasonable energy policies and are anti science oreniated, there will be no timely U.S. political responses to U.S. need for energy self sufficiency or to curbing global warming temperature increase. U.S. energy prices and global warming greenhouse gas emissions are to continue to increase. There is to be a 2017 CE lock-in of the global carbon budget with continued global temperature increase past 2050-2099 CE.
Paris based International Energy Agency’s (IEA) new “World Energy Outlook 2011” (WEO 2011) report states key issues to curbing global warming “infrastructure lock-in” of the “carbon budget.” Carbon budget refers to the contribution of various sources of carbon dioxide on the planet. Carbon budget has nothing to do with political agendas, climate change legislation, economies, or jobs. Carbon budget is a physical geophysical event. Exceeding the carbon budget means Earth’s systems of temperature regulation are in thermal runaway; Earth shall exceed habitable temperatures 2050-2099 Christan Era (CE).
Infrastructure coal plants and oil extraction methods in countries of China, India, Europe, Canada, the U.S., and other nations are rapidly being constructed right now. Carbon infrastructures last more than 50 years resulting in nation’s hydrocarbon economies locking-in the global carbon budget. An important part of carbon budget infrastructure lock-in is Canada’s proposed oil-sand extraction methods for the proposed north-south Keystone XL pipeline. Oil-sand extraction greenhouse gases emitted add significantly to the global warming carbon budget.
A large time lag to rebuild a clean energy infrastructure results in a delayed Earth temperature responses to emitted now greenhouse gases. Once we edge near carbon dioxide level of 450 ppm it becomes imposable to turn off the global warming effects of the 1750 CE to date human hydrocarbon energy used (coal, oil, natural gas) with natural methane/carbon dioxide release. The IEA found we are about five years away from building enough carbon-spewing infrastructures to lock-in a hydrocarbon infrastructure and make it extremely difficult — if not impossible — to avoid greatly exceeding 450-ppm carbon dioxide. Natural Arctic Region methane emissions effects the temperature increase and is a greenhouse gas variable that needs close consideration.
Global warming locking-in of the global carbon budget point of no-return comes around 2017 CE.
Canadian crude oil extraction methods adds to the global carbon budget. Crude oil extrication from bitumen results in a measurable factor of global warming temperature increase over the near term and far term.
Keystone XL Pipeline
Canada has over 170 billion barrels of oil recoverable with today's technology, making it second only to Saudi Arabia as an oil resource country.
The U.S. $13 billion Keystone pipeline system was/is to play an important role in linking a secure and growing supply of Canadian crude oil with the largest refining markets in the United States, significantly improving North American security energy supply. Proposed ‘Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project’ would begin at Alberta Canada and extend southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Keystone Pipeline (Phase II) is through Nebraska and Kansas to serve markets at Cushing, Oklahoma before continuing through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace.
Keystone XL is one of TWO PROJECTS that oil sands producers have been counting on to boost returns. Canada now exports about 2 million barrels of oil a day, almost all to the United States. Government and industry officials say a major delay in PROJECT #1 north to south Keystone XL decision would prompt increased efforts to push forward PROJECT #2 east to west Enbridge Inc's C$ 5.5 billion (US$ 5.5 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline across British Columbia to the West Coast, where more than half a million barrels of crude a day could be loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asia.
If Alberta's oil sands, the world’s third largest oil reserve were combined with U.S. oil reserves they would be more than adequate for American oil independence from outside North America oil importation.
Oil Sand Bitumen Emissions
Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is further upgraded into finished products. Alberta crude oil production is expected to grow strongly, but could be limited by the “global greenhouse gas emissions budget.” Oil sand extraction uses hydrocarbon heat (oil/natural gas) extraction, which emits much greenhouse gases. Global warming gases are vented when synthetic oil is extracted from bitumen and also from standing open pit mining.
⇛ bitumen - A black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation
⇛ oil sands - Sand, clay or other minerals saturated with bitumen
⇛ synthetic crude oil - Similar to natural crude oil, created by upgrading bitumen from oil sands.
⇛ greenhouse gas - Any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming of the Earth's surface. They include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2), and water vapor. Although greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, the elevated levels especially of carbon dioxide and methane that have been observed in recent decades are directly related, at least in part, to human activities such as the burning of hydrocarbon (fossil) fuels and the deforestation of tropical forests.
Some synthetic oil adverse greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated by using nuclear energy to heat bitumen and incorporation of a capture process for vented bitumen greenhouse gases.
Oil sands synthetic oil extraction incorporates both mining ("conventional" methods) and in-situ (“non-conventional”) production methods. Mining excavation of the bitumen-rich sand uses open pit mining methods which is the most efficient method of extraction (ie, least costly) when there are large deposits of bitumen with little overburden. In-situ methods involve processing the oil sand deposit so that the bitumen is removed while the sand remains in place. Oil heat extraction from bitumen can be used for both mining and in-situ. In-situ methods are used for oil sands that are too deep to support surface mining operations to an economical degree. 80% of the resource in Northern Alberta oil sands lies deep below surface overburden.
Open pit strip mining remains is least costly main extraction method, but two in situ techniques are likely to be used more in the future: cyclic steam stimulation and steam-assisted gravity drainage. Injected steam into the formation heats bitumen, allowing it to flow and be pumped to the surface or extracted from Canadian Athabasca Oil Sands. Oil sand processing can produce significant (massive) amounts of global warming gases.
Nuclear power could make steam and electricity for extracting sand oil. A proposal suggests that a single Candu 6 reactor configured to produce 75% steam and 25% electricity would replace 6 million cubic metres (220 terajoule (TJ)) per day of natural gas and support production of 175-200,000 barrels per day of oil. Nuclear heating would save the emission of 3.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. (European Union CO2 emissions in 2008 was 4.2 million metric tonnes, U.S. emission 7.1 million metric tonnes.) Canadian oil output from tar sands is forecast to reach three million barrels per day.
Given the limitations of supplying steam over more than 25 km (15.5 miles), small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) with capacities of some around 100 MWe could be more suitable for individual oil extraction and heating projects. U.S. experience of small light water reactors (LWRs) has been of very small military power plants, such as the reactor which operated at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica 1962-72, generating a total of 78 million kWh. There was also an Army program for small reactor development, and some successful small reactors from the main national program commenced in the 1950s. One was the Big Rock Point operated for 35 years to 1997. Anti nuclear politics has for decades increased costs of nuclear power and has opposed U.S. nuclear energy development and small light water reactor development.
Problem with any proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the bitumen steam extraction process is that the process increases the oil cost per barrel. Decades of selling “alternative renewable energy” was left Democrats’ stated U.S. national energy policy. U.S. left Democrats, President Obama, anti-nuclear groups, and “environmentalist” opposed both completing the Keystone XL pipeline and also opposed developing clean nuclear energy as part of U.S. energy planning. It will take at least two years of planning, R&D, and development to devise an effective alternative to decades of alternative-energy promotion; that leaves only three years of clean infrastructure implementation to correct for global 2017 CE carbon-budget lock-in. An increasing relevant problem is that all government department data and reporting on global warming is suspect of containing significant errors and omissions. Internet hacking is an increasing problem to public and private information integrity. Until information errors and omissions are corrected, there can be no reliable global warming energy planning. Due to decades of delays and abuses, correcting global warming temperature increase is going to be very expensive.
With left Democrat neo communists locked into conflicting unreasonable energy policies and are anti science oreniated, there will be no timely U.S. political responses to U.S. need for energy self sufficiency or to curbing global warming temperature increase. U.S. energy prices and global warming greenhouse gas emissions are to continue to increase. There is to be a 2017 CE lock-in of the global carbon budget with continued global temperature increase past 2050-2099 CE.
