Alberta Oil Sands: Volume 11

There is intense international scientific and media focus on the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northern Alberta, Canada. The AOSR contains, after Saudi Arabia, the second largest known reserves of oil in the world. The pace of industrial development in the region is accelerating rapidly. Today, some 1.4 million barrels per day of oil are produced; by 2025, this is expected to rise to 4 million barrels per day. In the Oil Sands, a heavy petroleum product called bitumen is mixed with sand, clay and water. Oil is derived from bitumen after upgrading. The scale of the industrial processes is extremely large. The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association science-based air quality measurement and environmental monitoring programs have completed measurements along the industrial source to ecological sink pathways. Industry approvals to operate and air quality regulation are dependent upon the best available scientific knowledge, commonly presented in public forums such as EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments). The chapters comprising this book bring improved and often new scientific information into the public domain. Many of the chapters will impact how airshed (air quality on a regional scale) management and planning are carried out. In addition, many new techniques for calculating emission factors and tracing the fate of emissions are discussed in the context of regulatory issues.