How long will alberta oil last

Although some companies have invested significantly in technology to address the tailings problem, that has not put a dent in the scale of the problem, according to the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based energy think tank. The overall volume of tailings has kept growing for more than 50 years. Some ponds are leaking into the Athabasca River, says Paul Belanger, a former oil sands worker and current co-chair of Keepers of the Athabasca, an organization of indigenous peoples and environmentalists.

Air pollution, including acid rain , also plagues the remote region. One study found that acid rain would eventually damage an area almost the size of Germany. As a result of these issues, oil from the oil sands has a higher environmental cost than other sources, Belanger says. Not permanently, Abel argues: By law, he says, oil sands producers must reclaim the land when they are finished with their operations.

Only a small fraction of the mined land has been reclaimed so far, however. The oil sands industry has been very destructive to the environment and our communities in the region, says Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action , an indigenous-led organization. Karim Zariffa, the executive director of Oil Sands Community Alliance , an industry group, says the industry has tried to work closely with local and indigenous people over decades to share information and provide funding.

The best they can hope for is to have some land set aside to buffer the impacts and get some compensation. For one thing, Deranger points out, the cleanup of mines and tailings ponds will eventually require enormous investment. One government estimate put the bill as high as U.

For another, many indigenous communities in the region are deeply impoverished. So in spite of the history of mistrust, some First Nations communities have become partners in oil sands projects, in return for jobs, grocery stores, housing, and public facilities.

When a community wanted to build off-grid solar for electricity, Deranger says, no one else stepped up to help except the industry. The same was true for a health center. Surrounded by oil sands mines, it has recently sued the Alberta government to stop a project that would consume some of its last traditional hunting lands.

Rather than advocating for the closure of existing oil sands projects, Indigenous Climate Action opposes any expansion of the industry and is working to help communities make a transition away from oil and toward renewable energy projects, particularly those that are indigenous owned and operated.

As a result, they are strongly opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline, since it could help increase the size of oil sands operations and contribute more to climate change. Even worse, in their view, is the fact that the Trudeau government spent billions to buy the pipeline—money they would have liked to see improve the poor housing, water infrastructure, and energy deficits within indigenous communities.

If built, the pipeline could dramatically increase the number of large oil tankers using coastal waters. Group Subscription. Premium Digital access, plus: Convenient access for groups of users Integration with third party platforms and CRM systems Usage based pricing and volume discounts for multiple users Subscription management tools and usage reporting SAML-based single sign-on SSO Dedicated account and customer success teams.

Learn more and compare subscriptions content expands above. Full Terms and Conditions apply to all Subscriptions. Or, if you are already a subscriber Sign in. Other options. As well, oilsands production, once started, remains relatively stable for decades. It would take an even sharper drop in oil prices than we have seen in recent years for producers to shut in their production.

It's a major component of the oil market today and will continue to be so for a long time. Steve Williams, the chief executive of Suncor, has said that his company will stay in the oilsands for or years, solving carbon technological problems as it goes.

We have an absolutely world-class resource that's been given to us Canadians," said Williams at an anniversary event in Fort McMurray. That's the supply side of the equation. There are significant questions about the demand side and when we will hit peak oil demand. And that's tricky to forecast.

You've got China and California musing about doing the same thing. The oilsands at Will they still be producing in years? In the boom of the early s, Alberta drew up a new savings plan, but it never happened, sideswiped by yet another bust.

Reliance on resource money subsidizes a high-spending, low-tax regime. Alberta has slashed its corporate tax rate to by far the lowest in Canada. Alberta remains the only province without a sales tax. Middle-class families pay less than half in provincial taxes compared with those in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised the same. Longer term, however, Mr. Alberta is in tough shape, but, as with other jurisdictions, it benefits from near-zero interest rates.

Its debt burden, even as it shoots higher this year, is modest compared with the size of its economy. Alberta will make it through this. Its population is young, educated and accustomed to adversity.