Canada's carbon emissions will exceed targets by 30 per cent thanks to oil sands: report

The development of Canada's oil sands will undo any environmental gains made by phasing out coal-fired power plants, according to an Environment Canada study. According to the study, called Canada's Emissions Trends, emissions from electricity generation will drop by 31 megatonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years. However, the carbon output from the Alberta oil sands will rise to 62 megatonnes, triple the level in 2005.

The carbon output is the result of extracting the bitumen from the sands by  steam injection, as well as by processing the bitumen to make it refinery-ready.   

In total, Environment Canada forecasts that the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will rise by 54 megatonnes, as other sectors, including transportation, buildings and agriculture, also see increases.

According to Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute, by 2020 oil sands will account for 12 per cent of Canada's emissions, more than most provinces in the country, and 40 per cent more than Quebec's total projected emissions in 2020.

By 2020, Canada is expected to exceed its carbon output targets by 178 megatonnes, or nearly 30 per cent.

The Alberta government is unapologetic about the emissions. Energy Minister Ron Liepert said the government does not want Canada to meet its commitments to international greenhouse gas reduction.

“I’m not interested in Kyoto-style policies. That’s something that was the previous Liberal government. We’re working with the current government to ensure that we do what we can, but at the same time we’re not going to cripple the Canadian economy,” he said.

Oil sands are too important to the economy, says Liepert. Without them, "we'd be in exactly the same situation as the US is in."