So - Kalifornia will just keep importing. Only 1 of 50 states.
M
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Darryl
McMahon
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 5:16 PM
To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Subject: [Biofuel] Oil sands hit major 'hurdle' in California - Globe
andMail - 2007.01.11
Oil sands hit major 'hurdle' in California Alberta's energy resources at
disadvantage under state rule limiting greenhouse gases
Byline: Martin Mittelstaedt
The tar sands are one of the most
prolific sources of energy in North America, but the fabled petroleum
resource may have trouble finding a market in California under a new
state policy requiring all vehicle fuels sold there to produce lower
emissions of greenhouse gases.
While most new laws on cleaner-burning fuel look only at tailpipe
emissions, the new California policy, announced this week by Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, has an unusual twist.
It will count gases discharged during the full life cycle of the
petroleum, a move that puts Alberta's oil sands at a disadvantage
because gasoline derived from this source requires huge quantities of
energy to extract and mine the sticky bitumen.
The oil sands have long been controversial in Canada because of their
large greenhouse-gas emissions, but the action in California is the
first sign that crude from this source might not find a welcome market
in the United States on environmental grounds.
This is such a groundbreaking plan, said Hal Harvey, environment
program director for the California-based Hewlett Foundation, which
helped pay for the research that led to the new directive.
Under the state's so-called low-carbon fuel standard, all transportation
fuel sold will have to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted
during its production and final use by at least 10 per cent by 2020.
Mr. Harvey says Alberta's oil sands are such a relatively high- emission
source of energy -- he puts it at about 20-per-cent higher than gasoline
from conventional crude -- that he believes refiners will be reluctant
to buy the product when the new policy, to be issued as a directive by
Mr. Schwarzenegger, goes into effect.
I don't think it would be purchased, Mr. Harvey said. It creates a
very large hurdle.
He said Canadian tar sands producers will have to develop ways of
substantially lowering greenhouse-gas emissions or risk being shut out
of the California market.
What it really suggests is that it will behoove the Canadian oil
industry to think about a carbon mitigation strategy, Mr. Harvey said.
Very little synthetic crude from Alberta is currently sold in
California, the largest U.S. fuel market. The bulk of U.S. exports go to
the Rocky Mountain and Midwest regions, according to officials with
Suncor Energy Inc. and Syncrude Canada Ltd., the two big producers in
the Alberta oil sands.
Syncrude spokesman Alain Moore declined to comment on the impact the
directive will have on the company, but said it has been able to reduce
its greenhouse-gas emissions by about 1.7 per cent a year for each
barrel of oil produced through efficiency measures.
Brad Bellows, a spokesman for Suncor, said the Canadian industry
estimates the amount of extra greenhouse-gas production from synthetic
oil may be as little as 7.6 per cent, compared with conventional crude,
far lower than Mr. Harvey's estimate. Mr.
Bellows said the company will be able to cope with the new regulation if
the lower Canadian figure is accepted.
I don't think that we're actually at any serious disadvantage with
synthetic crude, he said.
Mr. Bellows said that because of the paucity of U.S.
pipeline connections, the quantity of oil from the tar sands that enters
California is limited.
But Mr. Harvey predicted that the California measure will spread to the
U.S. markets that are more important for Alberta's oil sands. California
has generally led U.S. states in the field of air-pollution initiatives,
and he expects the idea of regulating the full life cycle emissions from
gasoline and diesel fuel to be adopted by other U.S. jurisdictions.
I think it will [spread]. It's a very appealing measure, he said.
The California standard is expected to be in place formally by late
2008, according to state timelines.
According to the state, refiners will be able to meet the new directive
through measures such as blending low-carbon ethanol into their fuel, or
purchasing credits to offset emissions from other companies that have
reduced their discharges.
Late last year, the Pembina Institute, a Canadian environmental think
tank, estimated that the oil sands will contribute nearly half of the
country's growth of greenhouse-gas emissions between 2003 and 2010
unless the industry adopts measures to offset discharges.
(c) 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
--
Darryl McMahon
It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will?
The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (now in print and eBook)
http://www.econogics.com/TENHE
