Evaluation of Variability in Greenhouse Gas Intensity of Canadian Oil Sands Surface Mining and Upgrading Operations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Sleep ◽  
Ian J. Laurenzi ◽  
Joule A. Bergerson ◽  
Heather L. MacLean
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Intensity

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Current Oil Sands Technologies: Surface Mining and In Situ Applications

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (14) ◽  
pp. 7865-7874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joule A. Bergerson ◽  
Oyeshola Kofoworola ◽  
Alex D. Charpentier ◽  
Sylvia Sleep ◽  
Heather L. MacLean
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Gas Emissions

Integration of Nuclear Energy Into Oil Sands Projects

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Finan ◽  
Andrew C. Kadak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Natural Gas Prices ◽  
Steam Production

Energy security and greenhouse gas reductions are thought to be two of the most urgent priorities for sustaining and improving the human condition in the future. Few places pit the two goals so directly in opposition to one another as the Alberta oil sands. Here, Canadian natural gas is burned in massive quantities to extract oil from one of North America’s largest native sources of carbon-intensive heavy oil. This conflict need not continue, however; non-emitting nuclear energy can replace natural gas as a fuel source in an economical and more environmentally sound way. This would allow for the continued extraction of transportation fuels without greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up the natural gas supply for hydrogen feedstock and other valuable applications. Bitumen production in Alberta has expanded dramatically in the past five years as the price of oil has risen to record levels. This paper explores the feasibility and economics of using nuclear energy to power future oil sands production and upgrading activities, and puts forth several nuclear energy application scenarios for providing steam and electricity to in-situ and surface mining operations. This review includes the Enhanced CANDU 6, the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). Based on reasonable projections of available cost information, nuclear energy used for steam production is expected to be less expensive than steam produced by natural gas at current natural gas prices and under $7/MMBtu (CAD). For electricity production, nuclear becomes competitive with natural gas plants at natural gas prices of $10–13/MMBtu (CAD). Costs of constructing nuclear plants in Alberta are affected by higher local labor costs, which this paper took into account in making these estimates. Although more definitive analysis of construction costs and project economics will be required to confirm these findings, there appears to be sufficient merit in the potential economics to support further study. A single 500MWth PBMR reactor is able to supply high-pressure steam for a 40,000 to 60,000 bpd Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) plant, whereas the CANDU and ACR reactors are unable to produce sufficient steam pressures to be practical in that application. The CANDU, ACR and PBMR reactors have potential for supplying heat and electricity for surface mining operations. The primary environmental benefit of nuclear energy in this application is to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 3.1 million metric tons per year for each 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) bitumen production SAGD facility, or 2.0 million metric tons per year for the replacement of 700MWe of grid electricity with a nuclear power plant. Should carbon emissions be priced, the economic advantages of nuclear energy would be dramatically improved such that with a $50/ton CO2e at the releases expected for typical projects using natural gas, breakeven gas prices for nuclear drop to less than $3.50/MMBtu, well below the current natural gas price of $10/MMBtu for SADG steam production.

Integration of Nuclear Energy Into Oil Sands Projects

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Finan ◽  
Andrew C. Kadak
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Mining Operations

Energy security and greenhouse gas reduction are thought to be two of the most urgent priorities for sustaining and improving the human condition in the near future. Few places pit the two goals so directly in opposition to one another as the Alberta oil sands. Here, Canadian natural gas is burned in massive quantities to extract oil from one of North America’s largest native sources of carbon-intensive heavy oil. However, this conflict need not continue. Nonemitting nuclear energy can replace natural gas as a fuel source in an economical and more environmentally sound way. This would allow for the continued extraction of transportation fuels without greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up the natural gas supply for hydrogen feedstock and other valuable applications. Bitumen production in Alberta expanded dramatically in the past 5 years as the price of oil rose to record levels. This paper explores the feasibility and economics of using nuclear energy to power future oil sands production and upgrading activities, and puts forth several nuclear energy application scenarios for providing steam and electricity to in situ and surface mining operations. This review includes the Enhanced CANDU 6, the Advanced CANDU Reactor, and the pebble bed modular reactor. Based on reasonable projections of available cost information, steam produced using nuclear energy is expected to be less expensive than steam produced by natural gas at current natural gas prices and at prices above $6.50/MMBtu (CAD). For electricity production, nuclear energy becomes competitive with natural gas plants at gas prices of $10–13/MMBtu (CAD). Costs of constructing nuclear plants in Alberta are affected by higher local labor costs, which this paper took into account in making these estimates. Although a more definitive analysis of construction costs and project economics will be required to confirm these findings, there appears to be sufficient merit in the potential economics to support further study.

scholarly journals Quantification of methane sources in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta by aircraft mass balance

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 7361-7378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabour Baray ◽  
Andrea Darlington ◽  
Mark Gordon ◽  
Katherine L. Hayden ◽  
Amy Leithead ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Athabasca Oil Sands ◽  
Emissions Inventory ◽  
Athabasca Oil Sands Region ◽  
Major Surface ◽  
Tailings Ponds

Abstract. Aircraft-based measurements of methane (CH4) and other air pollutants in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) were made during a summer intensive field campaign between 13 August and 7 September 2013 in support of the Joint Canada–Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring. Chemical signatures were used to identify CH4 sources from tailings ponds (BTEX VOCs), open pit surface mines (NOy and rBC) and elevated plumes from bitumen upgrading facilities (SO2 and NOy). Emission rates of CH4 were determined for the five primary surface mining facilities in the region using two mass-balance methods. Emission rates from source categories within each facility were estimated when plumes from the sources were spatially separable. Tailings ponds accounted for 45 % of total CH4 emissions measured from the major surface mining facilities in the region, while emissions from operations in the open pit mines accounted for ∼ 50 %. The average open pit surface mining emission rates ranged from 1.2 to 2.8 t of CH4 h−1 for different facilities in the AOSR. Amongst the 19 tailings ponds, Mildred Lake Settling Basin, the oldest pond in the region, was found to be responsible for the majority of tailings ponds emissions of CH4 (> 70 %). The sum of measured emission rates of CH4 from the five major facilities, 19.2 ± 1.1 t CH4 h−1, was similar to a single mass-balance determination of CH4 from all major sources in the AOSR determined from a single flight downwind of the facilities, 23.7 ± 3.7 t CH4 h−1. The measured hourly CH4 emission rate from all facilities in the AOSR is 48 ± 8 % higher than that extracted for 2013 from the Canadian Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a legislated facility-reported emissions inventory, converted to hourly units. The measured emissions correspond to an emissions rate of 0.17 ± 0.01 Tg CH4 yr−1 if the emissions are assumed as temporally constant, which is an uncertain assumption. The emission rates reported here are relevant for the summer season. In the future, effort should be devoted to measurements in different seasons to further our understanding of the seasonal parameters impacting fugitive emissions of CH4 and to allow for better estimates of annual emissions and year-to-year variability.

Mitigation of greenhouse gas intensity by supplementing with Azolla and moderating the dose of nitrogen fertilizer

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 101266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep K. Malyan ◽  
Arti Bhatia ◽  
Smita S. Kumar ◽  
Ram Kishor Fagodiya ◽  
Arivalagan Pugazhendhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Nitrogen Fertilizer ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Intensity

Statistically Enhanced Model of In Situ Oil Sands Extraction Operations: An Evaluation of Variability in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 947-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Orellana ◽  
Ian J. Laurenzi ◽  
Heather L. MacLean ◽  
Joule A. Bergerson
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Gas Emissions

Increased greenhouse-gas intensity of rice production under future atmospheric conditions

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kees Jan van Groenigen ◽  
Chris van Kessel ◽  
Bruce A. Hungate
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Intensity

Irrigation reduces the negative effect of global warming on winter wheat yield and greenhouse gas intensity

2019 ◽  
Vol 646 ◽  
pp. 290-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiazhen Li ◽  
Wenxu Dong ◽  
Oene Oenema ◽  
Tuo Chen ◽  
Chunsheng Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Winter Wheat Yield ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Intensity
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