What are tar sands and oil shale quizlet?

What are tar sands and oil shale quizlet?

What are tar sands and oil shale? geologic structures that contain low-grade hydrocarbons mixed with clay, sand, or shale.

What is meant by oil sands?

The oil sands (or tar sands as they are sometimes inaccurately referred to), are a mixture of sand, water, clay and a type of oil called bitumen. Oil sands are a mixture of sand, water and bitumen (oil that is too heavy or thick to flow on its own).

What are tar sands and why are they a problem?

Burning tar sands oil creates more pollution than regular crude. Because of its sludgy composition, mining and refining tar sands oil demands an enormous amount of energy. Tar sands generate 17 percent more carbon emissions than conventional oil.

Where are oil shales and tar sands found?

The largest deposits of tar sands in the world are found in Canada, and Venezuela, and much of the rest is found in various countries in the Middle East. In the United States, tar sands resources are primarily concentrated in eastern Utah, mostly on public lands.

What are tar sands and oil shale and how are they used?

Oil shale is a form of sedimentary rock that contains kerogen, which is released as a petroleum-like liquid when the rock is heated. Tar sands are a combination of clay, sand, water and bitumen, which is a heavy hydrocarbon. Like the kerogen in oil shale, tar sands’ bitumen can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil.

How are oil sands usually recovered?

Currently, 80% of oil sands reserves are accessible via in-situ techniques. Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is currently the most widely used in-situ recovery method. This method requires the drilling of two horizontal wells, one slightly higher than the other, through the oil sands deposit.

Are oil sands expensive?

High cost and low value Oil sands are among the world’s most expensive hydrocarbon resources, and the heavy, sulfur-rich crude fetches a lower price than the “light sweet” crude that sets the benchmark for the value of oil.

Are oil sands good or bad?

Tar sands oil — even the name sounds bad. And it is bad. In fact, oil from tar sands is one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet. Producing it releases three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional crude oil does.

Why is tar sands oil so bad?

In fact, oil from tar sands is one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet. Producing it releases three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional crude oil does. In fact, it has become one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in that country.

What are the disadvantages of using tar sands?

Cons

• Enormous GHG emissions.
• Relatively low net energy return compared to other sources.
• Large amounts of water required: roughly 3:1.
• Water pollution.
• Destructive to major boreal forest.
• Widespread habitat destruction, both on land and water.
• Requires expensive and risky pipelines.

What kind of oil is in tar sands?

Tar sands are a combination of clay, sand, water and bitumen, which is a heavy hydrocarbon. Like the kerogen in oil shale, tar sands’ bitumen can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil.

Where are oil shale and tar sands being developed?

In the United States, despite the wastefulness, pollution and serious climate dangers that go along with oil shale and tar sands development, oil companies want access to millions of acres of public lands for the practice in the Colorado River basin.

Where are tar sands located in the United States?

The largest deposits in the United States are found in eastern Utah. [1,4] Tar sands represent a potentially vast reserve of oil [2] but come with their own environmental challenges. Oil production from tar sands uses large amounts of land (for open-pit mining), water, and energy, when compared to other oil resources.

What can tar sands bitumen be used for?

Bitumen has long been used in waterproofing materials for buildings, and is most familiar today as the binding agent in road asphalt. However, most of the bitumen produced from tar sands is refined and mixed with lighter oils to produce synthetic crude oil that can be further refined and used in much the same way as typical crude oil. [3]