Posted by mhudema on July 11, 2008
Rising costs present challenge to second refinery in Saint John
Published Thursday July 10th, 2008
Shell Canada’s decision to scrap plans for a new multi-billion oil refinery in Ontario sheds some light on the challenges facing a second oil refinery in Saint John.
Energy Minister Jack Keir said Shell’s decision shows there are obstacles to Irving Oil and BP’s proposed 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery project in the Port City.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: canada, dirty oil, irving oil, oil sands, oilsands, refinery, rising costs, shell, tar sands, upgrader | No Comments »
Posted by mhudema on July 11, 2008
Jobs in Renewable Energy Expanding
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Abstract
Driven by the gathering sense of a climate crisis, the notion of “green jobs”-especially in the renewable energy sector-is now receiving unprecedented attention. Currently about 2.3 million people worldwide work either directly in renewables or indirectly in supplier industries. Given incomplete data, this is in all likelihood a conservative figure. The wind power industry employs some 300,000 people, the solar photovoltaics (PV) sector accounts for an estimated 170,000 jobs, and the solar thermal industry, at least 624,000. More than 1 million jobs are found in the biomass and biofuels sector. Small-scale hydropower and geothermal energy are far smaller employers. –>
by Michael Renner
Driven by the gathering sense of a climate crisis, the notion of “green jobs”-especially in the renewable energy sector-is now receiving unprecedented attention. Currently about 2.3 million people worldwide work either directly in renewables or indirectly in supplier industries.1 Given incomplete data, this is in all likelihood a conservative figure. The wind power industry employs some 300,000 people, the solar photovoltaics (PV) sector accounts for an estimated 170,000 jobs, and the solar thermal industry, at least 624,000.2 More than 1 million jobs are found in the biomass and biofuels sector.3 Small-scale hydropower and geothermal energy are far smaller employers. (See Figure 1.)
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: energy, green jobs, labor, oil sands, oilsands, renewables, solar, tar sands, wind | 1 Comment »
Posted by mhudema on July 11, 2008
Will cash improve political climate?
Friday, July 11, 2008
As the old hockey adage goes, the best defence is a good offence — which goes a long way to explain the $2-billion cash outlay by the Alberta government this week to reduce greenhouse gases.
Premier Ed Stelmach says he wants to kickstart construction of a carbon-capture-and-storage network to bury carbon dioxide produced in oilsands production and in coal-fired electricity generation.
It’s a welcome move for several reasons.
Until this week, the province’s strategy to fight the growing chorus of environmental critics — especially those south of the border — consisted mainly of a $25-million public relations campaign to re-brand the oilsands as clean energy.
That was clearly an inadequate response, even for a government that has been dismissive of perceived negative environmental impacts.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: alberta, carbon capture, clean energy, dirty oil, environmental impacts, government, oil sands, oilsands, tar sands | No Comments »
Posted by mhudema on July 11, 2008
Toxic tailings from the tar sands
Alberta Environmental Resources Conservation Board’s new directive worse than useless.
Dateline: Monday, July 07, 2008
by Ricardo Acuña for Vue Weekly
The Alberta Government, along with their friends in the oil industry, have recently embarked on a major campaign to educate Canadians and Americans about the fact that extraction of oil from Northern Alberta’s bituminous sands is actually an environmentally friendly and ecologically sound process.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: alberta government, big oil, dirty oil, oil, oilsands, royalties, sands, stelmach, tar sands, toxic tailings | No Comments »
Posted by mhudema on July 11, 2008
By CNN’s Ali Velshi and Katie Engelhart
Last Updated: July 10, 2008: 3:32 PM EDT
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (CNN) — On a hot summer day, there’s a distinct smell around the remote, northern town of Fort McMurray, Canada. You might think it’s the oil being processed at nearby plants. But most residents will tell you it’s the smell of money.
Most Americans probably don’t know that one third of the world’s known oil deposits are buried in the dirt of Canada’s Alberta province. The Oil Sands of Canada - as they are known - contain the largest known oil deposit in the world, significantly larger than that of Saudi Arabia. One and a half million barrels of oil are extracted from the land every day, most of it sent directly to the U.S.
Alberta supplies about ten percent of America’s imported oil - some of it from conventional wells, but a growing amount from Oil Sands. And the fast-growing industry has turned the town of Ft. McMurray into a bonafide “boomtown” with folks here juggling new riches - and new problems.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: tar sands, oil sands, global warming, fort mcmurray, toxic, dirty oil, environmental damage, canadian frontier, refining, cnn, boomtown, bust, ghg | No Comments »
