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U Calgary study finds oil shale most energy intensive upgraded fuel followed by in-situ-produced bitumen from oil sands

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A team at the University of Calgary (Canada) has compared the energy intensities and lifecycle GHG emissions of unconventional oils (oil sands and oil shale) alongside shale gas, coal, lignite, wood and conventional oil and gas. Earlier post.). —Nduagu & Gates.

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Transcanada restarts Keystone oil sands pipeline operations

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TransCanada Corporation said that its 590,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity Keystone Pipeline system resumed transporting oil sands crude on Sunday, 5 June, after a shutdown 29 May following an above-ground spill at a pump station in Kansas involving less than 10 barrels of oil. The tar sands are estimated (e.g.,

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Researchers Suggest That Although CCS and Other Technologies Could Reduce Oil Sands GHG Emissions to Near Zero, That Strategy May Not Make Sense

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Examples of emerging oil sands related technologies and trade-offs. The paper is an examination of how various choices about the scale of the life cycle analysis applied to oil sands (i.e., The source material is neither oil nor tar but bitumen, but is most generally described as an example of ultraheavy oil.”.

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Researchers Say Mix of Policies and Current or Near-Term Technologies Could Phase Out US CO2 Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants by 2030

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CO 2 emissions from US coal-fired power plant could be phased out entirely by 2030 using existing technologies or ones that could be commercially competitive with coal within about a decade, according to a paper published online 30 April in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Credit: ACS, Kharecha et al.

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Study finds heavy-petroleum fuels raising vanadium emissions; human emissions outpacing natural sources by factor of 1.7

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and are destined to rise significantly with the use of heavy oils, tar sands, and bitumen as combustion sources. Vanadium is a trace metal found in many earth materials, including petroleum and coal. Duke Professor Emeritus of Biogeochemistry at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. —lead author William H.

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New $20M XPRIZE tackles conversion of CO2 into products

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Co-sponsored by NRG and COSIA (Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance), the 4-½ year competition will include two tracks, with the new technologies tested at either a coal power plant or a natural gas facility.

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Canada targets cutting GHGs 30% below 2005 levels by 2030; new regulations for oil and gas, power, petrochemicals

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Canada Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced that Canada plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. The new regulations include: Regulations aligned with recently proposed actions in the United States to reduce GHG methane from the oil-and-gas sector.

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