oil sands

Mining the oil sands is safer than deep offshore drilling, but as dirty (or even dirtier)

Summary:  Canada’s oil sands are becoming one of America’s major sources of oil, and our dependence on it can only grow.  This new report tells the story, with some eye-opening graphics:  “Canada’s Oil Sands: Shrinking Window of Opportunity“, by RiskMetrics Group for Ceres, May 2010. Contents Introduction Executive Summary Key Report Findings Oil Sands Production …

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What’s up with the price of oil?

Question:  What about the extraordinary movements in oil prices?  Do these refute Peak Oil? Answer:  There is neither anything unusual in these things, nor are these price movements unique to oil.  Here are some brief answers, with links to longer discussions. Oil prices rose along with commodity prices during the boom The price of commodities varies with …

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An urban legend to comfort America: oil is oil, even if it is not oil

This is the fourth post in a series examining “urban legends” about energy that comfort Americans.  These five myths are: I.      Our massive reserves of unconventional oil. II.     We’ll run crash programs to solve peak oil, just as we mobilized for WWII. III.    Demand creates supply, by raising prices. IV.    Oil is Oil, even …

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An urban legend to comfort America: demand for oil creates new supply

This is the third post in a series examining “urban legends” about energy that comfort Americans.  These five myths are: I.      Our massive reserves of unconventional oil. II.     We’ll run crash programs to solve peak oil, just as we mobilized for WWII. III.    Demand creates supply, by raising prices. IV.    Oil is Oil, even …

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An urban legend to comfort America: our massive reserves of unconventional oil

Summary:  The bad news is that much of the good news about energy is wrong.  Repeated so confidently by so many for so long, these fallacies have become a major obstacle to our preparation for peak oil.  This post examines one such fallacy:  that the world has massive reserves of unconventional oil, and that those …

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