Summary
Whether you agree with the facts or not they are still the facts – the facts are: Fact, currently there is no viable alternative to our current oil based economy and there will not be a viable alternative for 20 to 40 years whether it be electricity, hydrogen or other sources of renewable energy, therefore the world needs the oil sands. Fact, proposed alternative energy sources like electricity and hydrogen still produce GHG’s and the economics of converting to albeit possibly less GHG producing alternatives like electricity and hydrogen is prohibitive currently. Fact, the oil produced from the oil sands can be produced at much lower rates of GHG’s if certain actions are taken that are a fraction of the cost of converting to alternative energy sources like electricity and hydrogen under their current ratio of fossil fuel production to renewable production. Those are the facts in regards to GHG’s
Analysis
My comment is simply this, if governments, institutional investors and managers, oil companies and especially environmentalist want to reduce the GHG’s at the oil sands by significant amounts they need only contact me through the Gerson Lehrman Group. My guess is few if any will contact me and fewer still will actually open up their wallet to do anything about it. This next statement is likely going to illicit an emotional response; my experience is that environmentalists are the least likely to open their wallets, to putting their money where their mouth is. It is my experience they would rather support educational initiatives and even protests than supporting real and verifiable GHG reducing projects. The fact is they have little or no track record in this area.
Quite frankly the reducing of GHG’s in the oil sands operations is not rocket science it is simple. Quite frankly the reducing of GHG’s in the oil sands operations can be an economic boom to the oil companies by acquiring the extensive energy required for the extraction process through renewable sources while at the same time enhancing conventional oil recovery.
One more fact, renewable energy has not come of age yet! Therefore if renewable energy is to be economical it must be project specific. In other words it must meet a specific challenge with a viable solution. There is a viable renewable energy solution for the oil sands.
In conclusion should any one read this, the question still remains will the adversarial positions put down their pride, their harsh words and their unrealistic expectations and work together with “solutionist” to take steps to resolve the problems? They are just that, steps one after the other that will see reductions of GHG’s over time while still allowing the economy to grow, governments, institutional investors, oil companies, environmentalists and private citizens to prosper for years to come.
