Carbon emissions from Alberta’s oil sands are higher than
previously estimated, but still within a similar range of other
high-emissions fuels, says a new study. According to updated
data from business information company IHS, Canadian oil sands
product refined in the United States emits nine per cent more
carbon on average than other forms of refined fuel. In its
previous report, the IHS had estimated this at six per cent. The
report said it had revised its estimate largely because it had
underestimated the amount of carbon emissions involved in the
oil sands extraction process. But the report noted that this
doesn’t put oil sands bitumen into a class of its own. “Although
oil sands-derived crudes are more carbon intensive than the
average oil refined in the United States, they are within the
range of some other crude oils produced, imported, or refined in
the United States, including crudes from Venezuela, Nigeria,
Iraq, and California heavy oil production,” the report said.
That will likely not be much com