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Study concludes permanent loss of peatlands in open-pit oil sands mining adds significantly to carbon burden of oil sands production

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Researchers at the University of Alberta (Canada) have quantified the transformation of the boreal landscape by open-pit oil sands mining in Alberta, Canada to evaluate its effect on carbon storage and sequestration. million metric tons of stored carbon. point out in their paper. —Rooney et al.

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Oil sands GHG lifecycle study using operating data finds lower emitting oil sands cases outperform higher emitting conventional crude cases; a call for more sophisticated tools and reporting

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Well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas emissions for in situ SAGD and surface mining pathways generated employing GHOST/TIAX/ GHGenius combination and comparison with SAGD, mining and conventional crude oil literature pathways (all results are on a HHV basis). 74% of WTW emissions in our oil sands pathways. Click to enlarge.

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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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When peat swamps are drained for agriculture, the peat begins to decompose, and is an enormous source of carbon emissions. Mha (20%) of the peatlands of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo in 2010, surpassing the area of Belgium and causing an annual carbon emission from peat decomposition of 230–310 Mt CO 2 e. Earlier post.).

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New lifecycle analysis of WTW GHG emissions of diesel and gasoline refined in US from Canadian oil sands crude

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In a new, comprehensive study, a team from Argonne National Laboratory, Stanford University and UC Davis ITS has estimated the well-to-wheels (WTW) GHG emissions of US production of gasoline and diesel sourced from Canadian oil sands. g CO 2 e/MJ for US conventional crude oil recovery. This range can be compared to ∼4.4

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Understanding the variability of GHG life cycle studies of oil sands production

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Credit: ACS, Brandt 2012. Brandt considers factors affecting energy consumption and GHG emissions from oil sands extraction, and then uses publicly available data to analyze the assumptions made in the LCA models to better understand the causes of variability in emissions estimates. —Brandt 2012. Click to enlarge.

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Researchers propose framework for CCS infrastructure optimization to reduce GHG emissions from oil sands extraction and processing

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The width of the pipeline network (green lines) is proportional to CO 2 flow; the largest CO 2 flow is approximately 36 MtCO 2 / yr for the $155/tCO 2 scenario (pipeline leaving the Athabasca oil sands area). The Alberta oil sands industry is expected to rapidly expand in coming decades; production could double or more in the next 10?15

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ExxonMobil brings Kearl oil sands expansion online ahead of schedule; overall capacity doubling to 220K barrels per day

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Exxon Mobil has started production at its Kearl oil sands expansion project in Alberta, Canada ahead of schedule; the expansion is expected to double overall capacity to 220,000 barrels of bitumen a day, with the expansion itself ultimately expected to reach 110,000 barrels per day. Kearl will access approximately 4.6 Earlier post.).

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