At 170 billion barrels, Canada's Oil Sands are the third largest reserves of developable oil in the world. The Oil Sands now produce about 1.6 million barrels per day, with production expected to double by 2025 to about 3.7 million barrels per day. The Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northeastern Alberta is the largest of the three oil sands deposits. Bitumen in the oil sands is recovered through one of two primary methods - mining and drilling. About 20 per cent of the reserves are close to the surface and can be mined using large shovels and trucks. Of concern are the effects of the industrial development on the environment. Both human-made and natural sources emit oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, trace elements and persistent organic compounds. Of additional concern are ground level ozone and greenhouse gases.
Because of the requirement on operators to comply with the air quality regulatory policies, and to address public concerns, the not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) has since 1997 been closely monitoring air quality in AOSR. In 2008, WBEA assembled a distinguished group of international scientists who have been conducting measurements and practical research on various aspects of air emissions and their potential effects on terrestrial receptors. This book is a synthesis of the concepts and results of those on-going studies. It contains 19 chapters ranging from a global perspective of energy production, measurement methodologies and behavior of various air pollutants during fossil fuel production in a boreal forest ecosystem, towards designing and deploying a multi-disciplinary, proactive, and long-term environmental monitoring system that will also meet regulatory expectations.
1. Introduction 2. Introduction to the Book Series 3. Chapter 1. Energy Production: A Global Perspective 4. Chapter 2. Energy Developments in Canada’s Oil Sands 5. Chapter 3. Energy and Environment: Toward Achieving the Balance in Alberta 6. Chapter 4. Air Quality in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 2011 7. Chapter 5. Development and Application of Statistical Approaches for Reducing Uncertainty in Ambient Air Quality Data 8. Chapter 6. Co-measurement of Volatile Organic and Sulfur Compounds in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region by Dual Detector Pneumatic Focusing Gas Chromatography 9. Chapter 7. Overview of Real-World Emission Characterization Methods 10. Chapter 8. Measurement of Real-World Stack Emissions with a Dilution Sampling System 11. Chapter 9. Applying the Forest Health Approach to Monitoring Boreal Ecosystems in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 12. Chapter 10. Ecological Analogues for Biomonitoring Industrial Sulfur Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta, Canada 13. Chapter 11. Tracing Industrial Nitrogen and Sulfur Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Using Stable Isotopes 14. Chapter 12. Air Quality Modeling in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 15. Chapter 13. WBEA Receptor Modeling Study in the Athabasca Oil Sands 16. Chapter 14. Method for Extraction and Multielement Analysis of Hypogymnia physodes samples from the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 17. Chapter 15. Coupling Lead Isotopes and Element Concentrations in Epiphytic Lichens to Track Sources of Air Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 18. Chapter 16. Mercury Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Epiphytic Tree Lichens in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 19. Chapter 17. Measurement of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Epiphytic Lichens for Receptor Modeling in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR): A Pilot Study 20. Chapter 18. Receptor Modeling of Epiphytic Lichens to Elucidate the Sources and Spatial Distribution of Inorganic Air Pollution in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 21. Chapter 19. Concluding Remarks 22. Index
At 170 billion barrels, Canada's Oil Sands are the third largest reserves of developable oil in the world. The Oil Sands now produce about 1.6 million barrels per day, with production expected to double by 2025 to about 3.7 million barrels per day. The Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northeastern Alberta is the largest of the three oil sands deposits. Bitumen in the oil sands is recovered through one of two primary methods - mining and drilling. About 20 per cent of the reserves are close to the surface and can be mined using large shovels and trucks. Of concern are the effects of the industrial development on the environment. Both human-made and natural sources emit oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, trace elements and persistent organic compounds. Of additional concern are ground level ozone and greenhouse gases.
Because of the requirement on operators to comply with the air quality regulatory policies, and to address public concerns, the not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) has since 1997 been closely monitoring air quality in AOSR. In 2008, WBEA assembled a distinguished group of international scientists who have been conducting measurements and practical research on various aspects of air emissions and their potential effects on terrestrial receptors. This book is a synthesis of the concepts and results of those on-going studies. It contains 19 chapters ranging from a global perspective of energy production, measurement methodologies and behavior of various air pollutants during fossil fuel production in a boreal forest ecosystem, towards designing and deploying a multi-disciplinary, proactive, and long-term environmental monitoring system that will also meet regulatory expectations.
1. Introduction 2. Introduction to the Book Series 3. Chapter 1. Energy Production: A Global Perspective 4. Chapter 2. Energy Developments in Canada’s Oil Sands 5. Chapter 3. Energy and Environment: Toward Achieving the Balance in Alberta 6. Chapter 4. Air Quality in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 2011 7. Chapter 5. Development and Application of Statistical Approaches for Reducing Uncertainty in Ambient Air Quality Data 8. Chapter 6. Co-measurement of Volatile Organic and Sulfur Compounds in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region by Dual Detector Pneumatic Focusing Gas Chromatography 9. Chapter 7. Overview of Real-World Emission Characterization Methods 10. Chapter 8. Measurement of Real-World Stack Emissions with a Dilution Sampling System 11. Chapter 9. Applying the Forest Health Approach to Monitoring Boreal Ecosystems in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 12. Chapter 10. Ecological Analogues for Biomonitoring Industrial Sulfur Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta, Canada 13. Chapter 11. Tracing Industrial Nitrogen and Sulfur Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Using Stable Isotopes 14. Chapter 12. Air Quality Modeling in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 15. Chapter 13. WBEA Receptor Modeling Study in the Athabasca Oil Sands 16. Chapter 14. Method for Extraction and Multielement Analysis of Hypogymnia physodes samples from the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 17. Chapter 15. Coupling Lead Isotopes and Element Concentrations in Epiphytic Lichens to Track Sources of Air Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 18. Chapter 16. Mercury Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Epiphytic Tree Lichens in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 19. Chapter 17. Measurement of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Epiphytic Lichens for Receptor Modeling in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR): A Pilot Study 20. Chapter 18. Receptor Modeling of Epiphytic Lichens to Elucidate the Sources and Spatial Distribution of Inorganic Air Pollution in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region 21. Chapter 19. Concluding Remarks 22. Index
