What Are It????
By simple definition, the Alberta tar sands, or Athabasca oil sands, are large deposits of extremely heavy crude oil and bitumen that are located in North eastern Alberta. The tar sands of Alberta has proven reserves of about 168 barrels making it the third largest proven crude oil reserve in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
At the current moment, there are still many issues that are arising from the oil sands of Alberta. However, through responsible development, significant investment (currently $30 billion per year) and advancements in technology, the Government of Alberta still plans to enhance Alberta's role as a world-leading energy supplier. Although the oil sands of Alberta, as well as the entire world, are are very beneficial economically, they do cause many issues such as habitat destruction, pollution (water and air), health risks and the sustainability of our planet. If we don't come up with a way to make the extraction of oil sustainable and environmentally healthy, not only will we not have a natural resource for our future generations but we may not even have a future generation to give it to. |