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Essay / Today's world runs on fossil fuels, with crude oil being the living blood of industrialized countries. Although much of the oil of the 20th century was abundant, easy to acquire, and inexpensive, it is only in the last thirty years that we have seen oil prices increase substantially. This can be attributed to many different reasons. These price changes prompted the industrialized world to become more creative in its techniques for acquiring and using oil. In northern Alberta, Canada, lie the Athabasca oil sands, which constitute the second largest oil reserves in the world. Tar sands are a mixture of sand, water, clay and sandstone that are lightly compacted with an extremely dense form of oil called "bitumen", which is an extra heavy oil with very low viscosity. To access this oil, steam or hot water is used to heat it, then it is trucked to an upgrading plant that separates the oil from other components. Once separated, it is sent to a refinery which separates the synthetic light crude. oil, this oil is then transported to refineries in the United States where it is refined into our fuels. There are three main oil sands sites in Albert, including the Athabasca, Peace River and Coldlake oil sands, with the Athabasca oil sands being the largest deposit. Crude oil has different forms which are found in different parts of the world.1) Very light crude which is used to make gasoline, jet fuel and kerosene, this oil is very volatile and can evaporate within a few days.2) Light crude which is also used for gasoline and other fuels, including diesel. These oils are not as volatile but are moderately toxic and evaporate less quickly. 3) Medium oils, which make up most of the crude...... middle of paper ...... hire more workers to drill wells and operate machinery and build and maintain a pipeline in the United States and Canada. Although tar sands have many benefits, they also have many negative effects. The National Petroleum Council recently reconsidered the full potential of North America's natural gas and oil reserves and how they could power our countries for years to come. There are several falls in the oil sands on the environmental spectrum. One being the contamination of water sources, to heat the bitumen you need water or steam. Water is usually drawn from nearby rivers or lakes and what is now recycled in the process (up to 90%) returns to streams or lake groundwater carrying high levels of vandium nickel mercury chromium cadmium selenium copper manganese iron and zinc and can harm wildlife and
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