文章基本信息

标题：Historical trends in greenhouse gas emissions of the Alberta oil sands (1970–2010)
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作者：Jacob G Englander ; Sharad Bharadwaj ; Adam R Brandt 等
期刊名称：Environmental Research Letters
印刷版ISSN：1748-9326
电子版ISSN：1748-9326
出版年度：2013
卷号：8
期号：4
页码：044036
DOI：10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/044036
语种：English
出版社：IOP Publishing Ltd
摘要：There has been increased scrutiny of the Alberta oil sands due to their high carbon intensity (CI) relative to conventional crude oil. Relying entirely on public and peer-reviewed data sources, we examine historical trends in the CI of oil sands extraction, upgrading, and refining. Monthly data were collected and interpolated from 1970 to 2010 (inclusive) for each oil sands project. Results show a reduction in oil sands CI over time, with industry-average full-fuel cycle (well-to-wheels, WTW) CI declining from 165 gCO₂e MJ⁻¹ higher heating value (HHV) of reformulated gasoline (RFG) to 105 (−12, +9) gCO₂e MJ⁻¹ HHV RFG. 2010 averages by production pathways are 102 gCO₂e MJ⁻¹ for Mining and 111 gCO₂e MJ⁻¹ for in situ. The CI of mining-based projects has declined due to upgrader efficiency improvements and a shift away from coke to natural gas as a process fuel. In situ projects have benefitted from substantial reductions in fugitive emissions from bitumen batteries. Both mining and in situ projects have benefitted from improved refining efficiencies. However, despite these improvements, the CI of oil sands production (on a pathway-average basis) ranges from 12 to 24% higher than CI values from conventional oil production. Due to growing output, total emissions from the oil sands continue to increase despite improved efficiency: total upstream emissions were roughly 65 MtCO₂e in 2010, or 9% of Canada's emissions.