Wildly Underestimated Oilsands Emissions Latest Blow to Alberta's Dubious Climate Claims
As disaster looms, petro province lets industry call the shots.
Anderson, Mitchell
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/05/03/Oilsands-Emissions-Wildly-Underestimated/
Date Written: 2019-05-03
Publisher: The Tyee
Year Published: 2019
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX23719
The oilsand industry's own measurements of their carbon output fall far short of that reported by Environment Canada's and others' research. This could deal a blow to the industry's PR efforts.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
In a bizarre arrangement, the Alberta oil patch pays for its own oversight through the Alberta Energy Regulator - a regulatory body 100-per-cent funded by the fossil fuel sector. What could go wrong?
The latest boondoggle was revealed by an Environment Canada study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. It showed the methodology that energy companies have used for years to calculate carbon dioxide and methane emissions from oilsands surface mining operations underestimated contributions to global warming by a whopping 64 per cent....
Similar airborne sampling by Carleton University researchers in 2017 assessed methane leaks from Alberta oil and gas operations and found that overall emissions were "likely at least 25 to 50 per cent greater than current government estimates."
