Blog: Path of my Life
by Karlin

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Energy Efficiency - Tar Sands example

energy wasted by the energy industry = more profits. Example cited.

Date:   12/4/2011 1:50:54 PM   ( 17 mon ) ... viewed 638 times

It is an abomination that the energy industry does not have an efficiency mandate. Just look at Alberta's Tar Sands - they use steam to separate the tar from the sand, and that steam is made with natural gas.


Here is a crazy story, this is insanity:
*A major portion of that natural gas used in the Tar Sands comes from fracking shale gas formations in nearby British Columbia, where they use the equivalent hydroelectric power of one major hydroelectric dam in that fracking process to run pumps that blast the chemicals into the ground;
* Then, after using huge amounts of electricity to get shale gas flowing, they pipeline that shale gas to the Tar Sands to make steam to get the bitumen ["tar"]. That bitumen is then sent to Texas to be refined into gasoline for our cars.

Consider this - all I want is to drive an electric car, powered by one of British Columbia's hydroelectric dams.

Instead, that electricity is used to get shale gas to get bitumen to get gasoline, each one of those steps wasting 90% of the energy that could have been used in more efficient ways.

IT TAKES FAR MORE ENERGY TO PRODUCE A BARREL OF TAR SANDS BITUMEN THAN THE ENERGY IN A BARREL OF BITUMEN.

In other words, we would be further ahead energy wise to just leave the bitumen in the ground.

Nuff said...

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