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The Oilsands Challenge
It has long been recognized that the oilsands of
northern Alberta hold great potential. Because of technological
limitations, however, exploring with early drills in hopes of finding
liquid oil was the first stage of the oilsands development. This quickly
gave way to experimentation with the oilsands themselves, with attempts to
find uses for the resource that made sense. This ranged from roofing
materials to experimental road paving, which was carried out in the 1920s.
After this period of experimentation, research shifted more towards
finding a way of separating the oil from the sand. This essential
problemgetting the oil out of the sand on a large scale and
efficientlywas the central theme of oilsands innovation from the 1930s to
the 1960s.
Several early attempts were made based on water-extraction principles, but
none were extremely successful, as the process was neither reliable nor
efficient enough. Additionally, the early water-extraction plants were
prone to fire, and accidents took their toll.
Oilsands scientist
Karl Clark would,
ultimately, in cooperation with the University of Alberta and the Alberta
Research Council (ARC), create a plant that produced oil efficiently for
one summer in the 1960s. With this accomplished, the water-extraction
process was proven to work and
Dr. Clarks inventions were patented. Large-scale operations
followed in the late 1970s, and by the early 1990s, the extraction of oil
from the Athabasca oilsands was set for the growth we are witnessing
today.
Since only 10 per cent of oilsands deposits are
extractible through the surface, the future will be focused on subsurface
extraction.
Therefore, just as the initial problem of how to separate the
oil from the sand was the focus of Albertas innovators in the past, the
future will be a tale of subterranean science. These extraction techniques
are called "in-situ" because the engineers must extract the resource where
it is found, deep below the surface, rather than extracting it from the
surface.
The two main in-situ processes are Cyclic Steam
Stimulation (CSS) and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage. All in-situ
processes require large amounts of steam, and producing that steam
requires energy. Consequently, the saying around the oilsands is that "it
takes energy to make energy." So, the big question will be how to produce
that power.
Natural gas is the preferred method currently, but considering
recent natural gas price increases, other methods need to be evaluated. One of these methods may appear to be a step back in energy generation,
but is a strong natural resource of Albertacoal. Coal is plentiful and
affordable in Alberta, but use of it is also accompanied by a host of
environmental concerns and, consequently, its future exploitation is both
likely and controversial.
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