Which will win the race to fuel the future?
Burning fossil fuels loads the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and that's raising the earth's average temperature. This raises the question: Will today's higher oil and gas prices necessarily spark the development of low-carbon, climate-friendly transport fuels? Unfortunately, energy produced from unconventional sources of fossil fuels is still often cheaper than many other proposed alternative fuel supplies. In addition, some allegedly green fuels aren't all that green.
Let's look at the fossil fuel conundrum. With oil at $100 per barrel, all kinds of alternative petroleum sources become more attractive. Consider the ongoing development of the Alberta tar sands in Canada. The reserves locked in these sands amount to 179 billion barrels of oil. The oil sands production cost estimates range from $25 to $40 per barrel. This was not economical just ten years ago when oil was selling for around $10 per barrel, but it looks great when the price of crude is hovering near $100 per barrel. Today, more than 1.1 million barrels of oil flow from the oil sands and production is projected to grow to more than 3 million barrels per day by 2015. However, producing oil from tar sands uses 2 to 5 barrels of water for each barrel of oil, scrapes large portions of the landscape bare which must then be reclaimed, and releases up to three times as much the chief global warming gas, carbon dioxide, as conventional oil production.
See full Article.
Posts
