(Albertan. Have worked in Fort Mac. Electrophile. Adult Civil Engineering Student. Posting here as a break from studying for my geotechnical engineering final tomorrow)
The facts as I understand them.
-energy needs are just going to go up, despite increase efficecy. Also, despite technologies, solar and wind and thermocycle generation can not meet demands. Land space aside, it simply isn't possilbe. We need very much superior green energy technology, but in the mean time we will use coal and oil and generate uncountable billions of tonnes of CO2.
-like it or not, oil will be used until it is mostly gone. That is in the future, but in north america, true alternative fuel use isn't going to happen for some time.
-The vast remainer of the oil sands reserves are not, and will not be for some time, accesseable in feasable means for strip mining. They need to be extracted in situ, which currently requires steam and is the focus of most R&D. Strip mines are old school. There are some still being developed, as a small % of all future developments, but most the payload is too deep or otherwise non-strip-mineable.
-Oil Sands current actions and future plans for reclaimation are the best in the world. Brilliant compared to, say, mountain coal mining in the US south reclaimation or anything china's coal plants are doing.
-Fort Mac is a nasty, dirty, and expensive town that I don't recommend to anyone. The oil sands are also nasty and dirty, even within brand new plants. But, environmentally speaking, oil sands extraction isn't actually that bad. This isn't the opinion of an endoctrined Albertan, but a relative measurment against the rest of the world.
-Nuclear plant for steam, with cogeneration, can also be used to crack and refine. It has been talked about since the 50s, while trying to determine the best way to exploit the oilsands before oil prices became high enough.
-Candu reactors use natural (non enriched) uranium, which we have a pile of. I think we are the worlds biggest exporter. Problem is that they are also breeder reactors, which some people object to.
-Also, the need for heavy water is pretty significant, but considering the 8 billion currently invested into oil sands infastructure, it is not a problem. Especially considering the massive water reservers in the area and I think next generation Candus need less heavy water anyway.
-Candu nuclear waste is not nearly as bad (still bad, mind you) as previous designs. Still toxic, still has rediculously long half-lives, but are not really a terrorist concern (as current nuclear waste is) and are being generated in a very unpopulated area.
-I realize it would make many enviromentalists cringe, but since the tundra is not very populated and not usable for agriculture, it is an ideal nuclear waste dumping ground.
Of course, all that CO2 from coal plants globally will contribute to global warming, so the permafrost might melt at some point.
-I started this post with a point and don't know if I made it.
Nuclear plants at the oil sands = good.
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