GEOG 310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Oil Sands, Unconventional Oil, Peak Oil
Document Summary
Dynamics of resource scarcity - peak oil and energy (continued) Focuses mostly on conventional oil resources that are exploitable. The alberta tar sands --> one of the largest oil resources in. There is declining quality and quantity of crude in other regions, which leads to people utilizing the tar sands. Increasing economic demand on this resource (as there is a realization that it is finite) --> causes issues on environmental impact. Considered a huge resource --> however, still does not satisfy global demand, as would only take 5 years to use it all. This is a problem as this estimate is also calculated. Before energy return on investment (as it takes time and money to extract) The final amount would be 3. 75 years for the world. Environmental footprint is increasing --> consumes extensive amounts of water + natural gas. There is massive environmental impact as you are bulldozing the complete top environment (e. g. soil, trees)
