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Utah Water Quality Board upholds issuance of permit for oil sands mine in Utah

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The Utah Water Quality Board, in a 9-2 vote this week, agreed with the August 2012 recommendations of an administrative law judge (ALJ) upholding a permit-by-rule issued by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) for the proposed PR Spring an oil sands mine on state land in eastern Utah. Source: USOS, DWQ. Click to enlarge.

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US BLM issues draft PEIS for oil shale and oil sands; significantly scales back public land available for commercial leasing

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The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published the Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and Possible Land Use Amendments for Allocation of Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources on Lands Administered by the BLM in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

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Shell launches commercial operation of Quest carbon capture and storage in Alberta oil sands

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Using activated amine (ADIP-X), Quest will capture one-third of the CO 2 emissions from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader, which turns oil sands bitumen into synthetic crude that can be refined into fuel and other products. Te Storage zone is a formation called Basal Cambrian Sands (BCS).

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New study finds GHG emissions from palm oil production significantly underestimated; palm oil biofuels could be more climate-damaging than oil sands fuels

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The majority (62%) of the plantations were located on the island of Sumatra, and more than two-thirds (69%) of all industrial plantations were developed for oil palm cultivation, with the remainder mostly being Acacia plantations for paper pulp production. —Miettinen et al. Earlier post.).

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Suncor Energy Receives Conditional Regulatory Approval for Oil Sands Tailings Management Plan; Projected 30% Reduction in Volume

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Suncor Energy has received conditional approval for its oil sands fluid tailings management plan from Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board ( ERCB ). Tailings are a mixture of fine clay, sands, water and residual bitumen produced through the oil sands extraction process, and are held in massive “ponds”.

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New Study Finds That Oil Sands Development a Greater Source of Contamination Than Previously Realized; Challenges Existing Monitoring Program

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A study by researchers in Canada and the US shows that oil sands development is a greater source of polycyclic aromatic compound (PAC) contamination to the Athabasca River and its tributaries than previously realized. Bitumen production in the Alberta oil sands has increased rapidly, rising from 482,000 to 1.3

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Canada awards C$10M to N-Solv to demonstrate solvent-based in-situ bitumen extraction technology; targeting 85% reduction in GHG compared to SAGD with no consumption of process water

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to support the demonstration of its Bitumen Extraction Solvent Technology (BEST), a low-temperature, primary, in-situ technology to produce the bitumen in oil sands reserves using a pure, condensing solvent. Other members of the consortium are oil sands producer Suncor Energy Inc. Canada is awarding C$10M (US$10.5

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