March 20, 2013
AWA News Release: March 2013 Energy Lease Sales Break Alberta Caribou Policy
The Alberta government is selling new petroleum and natural gas lease sales in five threatened…
Oil and gas activity can have a wide range of impacts on natural ecosystems, from the initial exploration stage, through development, production and decommissioning of infrastructure.
- •
- •
- •
Oil and gas wells, pumping stations, roads, pipelines and collecting systems all have a substantial footprint, and so a clear and open lifetime planning system is vital to ensure avoidance of sensitive ecosystems.
- Introduction
- Impacts
- History
- Archive
- Other Areas
Prairie Bluff, Castle (N. Douglas)
Moose Mountain well, Kananaskis (N. Douglas)
According to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, oil and gas well reclamation is progressing at a much slower rate than well abandonment. This is resulting in a buildup of uncertified wells. On average, between 2002 and 2011, 14,227 wells were drilled per year, 4,111 were abandoned and 1,682 certified. This indicates that over the last 10 years, the certification rate has been approximately 40.9 per cent of the abandonment rate (Oil and Gas Reclamation, Alberta ESRD, March 2012)
Position
Alberta Wilderness Association believes that hydrocarbon exploration and development should be regulated in a manner that is consistent with the maintenance of wilderness values. There is a fundamental need for the maintenance of wilderness that is free of industrial incursion. Outside of such areas, exploration and development must be conducted in an environmentally responsible manner.
Natural gas withdraws and consumes large amounts of water during extraction and energy production. The life cycle consumption and withdrawal based on input, plant, and cooling type is reported in the following table.
| Input | Plant Type | Cooling Type | Consumption coefficient (L/kWh or m3/MWh) | Withdrawals coefficient (L/kWh or m3/MWh) | Percent consumption to withdrawal | Consumption for 1000 MW Plant (L/Year) | Withdrawals for 1000 MW Plant (L/Year) | Consumption Compared to # of Albertans Avg. Annual Use |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Cogeneration | Cooling Pond | 0.31 | 0.67 | 46% | 2,170,000,000 | 4,690,000,000 | 30,488 |
| Shale Gas | Cogeneration | Cooling Pond | 0.38 | 0.74 | 51% | 2,660,000,000 | 5,180,000,000 | 37,373 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Cogeneration | Cooling Tower | 0.32 | 0.62 | 52% | 2,240,000,000 | 4,340,000,000 | 31,472 |
| Shale Gas | Cogeneration | Cooling Tower | 0.39 | 0.69 | 57% | 2,730,000,000 | 4,830,000,000 | 38,356 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Cogeneration | Dry Cooling | 0.07 | 0.1 | 70% | 490,000,000 | 700,000,000 | 6,884 |
| Shale Gas | Cogeneration | Dry Cooling | 0.14 | 0.17 | 82% | 980,000,000 | 1,190,000,000 | 13,769 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Cogeneration | Once Through | 0.23 | 14.66 | 2% | 1,610,000,000 | 102,620,000,000 | 22,620 |
| Shale Gas | Cogeneration | Once Through | 0.3 | 14.73 | 2% | 2,100,000,000 | 103,110,000,000 | 29,505 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | NG Combined Cycle | Cooling Pond | 0.72 | 1.15 | 63% | 5,012,000,000 | 8,022,000,000 | 70,418 |
| Shale Gas | NG Combined Cycle | Cooling Pond | 0.8 | 1.23 | 65% | 5,596,000,000 | 8,606,000,000 | 78,623 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | NG Combined Cycle | Cooling Tower | 0.69 | 1.02 | 68% | 4,802,000,000 | 7,112,000,000 | 67,468 |
| Shale Gas | NG Combined Cycle | Cooling Tower | 0.77 | 1.1 | 70% | 5,386,000,000 | 7,696,000,000 | 75,673 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | NG Combined Cycle | Dry Cooling | 0.12 | 0.15 | 80% | 833,000,000 | 1,064,000,000 | 11,704 |
| Shale Gas | NG Combined Cycle | Dry Cooling | 0.2 | 0.24 | 83% | 1,417,000,000 | 1,648,000,000 | 19,909 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | NG Combined Cycle | Once Through | 0.42 | 40.85 | 1% | 2,912,000,000 | 285,922,000,000 | 40,913 |
| Shale Gas | NG Combined Cycle | Once Through | 0.5 | 40.93 | 1% | 3,496,000,000 | 286,506,000,000 | 49,118 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Single/simple Cycle | 0.17 | 0.46 | 37% | 1,218,000,000 | 3,248,000,000 | 17,113 | |
| Shale Gas | Single/simple Cycle | 0.3 | 0.59 | 51% | 2,093,000,000 | 4,123,000,000 | 29,406 | |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Steam Cycle | Cooling Pond | 1.86 | 2.33 | 80% | 13,033,000,000 | 16,323,000,000 | 183,112 |
| Shale Gas | Steam Cycle | Cooling Pond | 2.01 | 2.48 | 81% | 14,094,000,000 | 17,384,000,000 | 198,019 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Steam Cycle | Cooling Tower | 2.42 | 2.98 | 81% | 16,953,000,000 | 20,873,000,000 | 238,188 |
| Shale Gas | Steam Cycle | Cooling Tower | 2.57 | 3.13 | 82% | 18,014,000,000 | 21,934,000,000 | 253,094 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Steam Cycle | Dry Cooling | 0.33 | 0.39 | 85% | 2,337,000,000 | 2,729,000,000 | 32,835 |
| Shale Gas | Steam Cycle | Dry Cooling | 0.49 | 0.54 | 91% | 3,398,000,000 | 3,790,000,000 | 47,741 |
| Conventional gas/CBM | Steam Cycle | Once Through | 1.27 | 138.39 | 1% | 8,903,000,000 | 968,743,000,000 | 125,086 |
| Shale Gas | Steam Cycle | Once Through | 1.42 | 138.54 | 1% | 9,964,000,000 | 969,804,000,000 | 139,993 |
| Note: Annual withdrawal and consumption for a 1000 MW plant are calculated with a capacity factor of 80 %, which assumes the plant runs for 7000 hrs in a year. Average Albertan consumption is assumed to be 71,175 L per year, based on Stats Canada’s Average daily litres of water used per capita in residential sector | ||||||||
| Table Source: Ali, B. & Kumar, A. 2015 Development of life cycle water footprints for gas-fired power generation technologies. Energy Conversion and Management, 110, 386 – 396 | ||||||||
2020
In February, AWA learned that Alberta-based Seven Generations Energy was the first Canadian natural gas producer to receive Equitable Origins’ (EO) certification to the EO100 standard. AWA has since engaged with Equitable Origins certifiers to support a sound application of the biodiversity provisions of their oil and gas certification, which we believe could help improve energy industry land-use practices. Since June, AWA has engaged directly with Seven Generations Energy around biodiversity concerns and opportunities in its Kakwa region lease holdings.
In early April, AWA voiced concerns about Alberta’s March 31 decision to suspend most energy industry environmental compliance reporting requirements. We were unconvinced that this was a pandemic safety-related measure since all data gathering and record-keeping requirements remained. We joined First Nations and other ENGOs in raising concerns when Alberta further suspended most environmental monitoring requirements in late April and early May; this occurred at a time when other economic activities were re-opening with pandemic safety measures in place. Although reporting and monitoring resumed in July 2020, AWA remains concerned about the interruption of compliance reporting and loss of data collection without transparent justification.
February 6, 2013
AWA News Release: Stop Alberta Energy Leases in Threatened Little Smoky Caribou Range
In violation of Alberta’s 2011 woodland caribou policy that places an immediate priority on maintaining…
February 6, 2013
AWA Wilderness & Wildlife Defenders: Request AB Energy Minister Defer New Leases in Threatened Little Smoky Caribou Range
In violation of Alberta’s 2011 woodland caribou policy that places an immediate priority on maintaining…
February 6, 2013
Open Letter to AB Energy Minister: Defer New Leases within Threatened Little Smoky Caribou Range
An open letter to Alberta Minister of Energy Ken Hughes, requesting deferral of planned energy…
December 18, 2012
AWA New Release: New Road in Little Smoky Caribou Range Mocks Alberta Policy
A new road built in the last several weeks by Tourmaline Oil Corp. within critical…
December 13, 2012
ACA’s Proposed Pilot Conservation Plan (Summary) for the Redrock-Prairie Creek Mountain Caribou Herd
The Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) prepared this proposal for a pilot conservation plan for the…
November 30, 2012
ENGO News Release: Prairie Grasslands and Species at Risk Protected: Government Sets High Bar for Suffield National Wildlife Area
The seven-group Suffield Coalition today applauded the government’s decision to deny approval of Cenovus’ (previously…
November 24, 2012
AWA Wilderness & Wildlife Defenders: Wild prairie grasslands or gas wells and pipelines?
As we reflect on 2012 and AWA’s 2012 conservation priorities and progress, we will be…
October 31, 2012
Sixteen Years after Being “Protected” Rumsey Natural Area Sees a Halt to New Oil and Gas Access
Wild Lands Advocate article, October 2012, by Nigel Douglas. Alberta Energy has now prohibited all…
September 11, 2012
ENGO News Release: Sixteen Years after Being “Protected,” Rumsey Natural Area Sees a Halt to New Oil and Gas Access
Sixteen years after it was officially “protected,” Rumsey Natural Area may finally be able to…
June 5, 2012
Great News for Kananaskis Country!
Kananaskis Country has won a reprieve from a proposed sour gas development. The long-running saga…
March 7, 2012
Kananaskis Sour Gas Proposal Suffers One More Setback
Construction of Suncor Energy’s ill-fated Sullivan sour gas development in Kananaskis Country seems unlikely to…