Bitumen and Biocarbon

Land Use Conversions and Loss of

Biological Carbon Due to Bitumen
Operations in the Boreal Forests of
Alberta, Canada

Peter Lee
Ryan Cheng
©Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009 (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

Highlights:
This paper provides estimates of land use changes, biological carbon content and consequent potential greenhouse emissions
due to existing and future surface mining and in situ extraction of bitumen in Alberta, Canada. The highlights of this paper
include the following:
1. Land use changes resulting from surface mining and the carbon content in these changed areas – The natural ecosystems
that have undergone or may undergo land use change into open pit mines, tailings ponds, mine waste, overburden piles and
associated facility plants, and other major infrastructure resulting from existing and potential surface mining activities total
488,968 ha (including 209,614 ha of peatlands and mineral wetlands and 205,590 ha of upland forest). The above and below
ground biological carbon content of this area is at least 140.7 megatonnes.
2. Land use changes resulting from in situ operations and the carbon content in these changed areas – The natural
ecosystems that have undergone or may undergo land use change into central facilities, exploration wells, production wells,
access roads, pipelines and other infrastructure from existing and potential in situ operations total 1,124,919 ha. This area
contains at least 438.2 megatonnes of above and below ground biological carbon.
3. GHG emissions from loss of biological carbon due to land use changes caused by bituminous sands industrial activities –
Although not all of the biological carbon contained within ecosystems changed by bitumen industrial activities will be emitted
into the atmosphere, if all of this carbon (578.9 megatonnes) were emitted, this would amount to 2,121.3 megatonnes of CO2.
While this scenario is unrealistic, it nevertheless highlights the significance of potential greenhouse gas emissions from the
release of biological carbon stores from those natural ecosystems that will be changed by a full development scenario of the
bituminous sands. Our likely estimate of releases under a full development scenario would be 238.3 megatonnes of carbon,
873.4 megatonnes of CO2, or 41.1% of the total carbon contained in the area disturbed by bitumen industrial operations.
Over 100 years, this would average out to 8.7 megatonnes CO2 per year, with great variability year-to-year and decade-to-
decade. Although reclamation will sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it is unlikely to replace most of the lost biocarbon
for thousands of years. Canada’s total emissions for 2007 were 747 megatonnes CO2eq from all sources and Canada’s Kyoto
target is 558.4 megatonnes. The bituminous sands industry reported emissions of 28.5 megatonnes of CO2eq in 2004, 35.8
megatonnes of CO2eq in 2007, and have been projected to be 113.1-141.6 megatonnes CO2eq in 2020.

Citation: Lee P and R Cheng. 2009. Bitumen and Biocarbon: Land use changes and loss of biological carbon due to bitumen
operations in the boreal forests of Alberta, Canada. Global Forest Watch Canada. Edmonton, Alberta. 40 pp.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Ivey Foundation, the EJLB Foundation and Greenpeace Canada for their financial support of this project.

We are very grateful to Ducks Unlimited Canada for making available to us their land cover data of north-eastern Alberta,
for this project.

We acknowledge the contributions of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ducks Unlimited, Canadian Boreal
Initiative, GHGenius, Pembina Institute, and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society–Northern Alberta Chapter for
advancing knowledge on the issue of biological carbon and bituminous sands industrial operations.

We thank those individuals whose initial advice or feedback on earlier drafts of this paper contributed to improvements
made during its development and finalization: Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (Doug Sklar and staff); Matt
Carlson; Petr Cizek; Ducks Unlimited Canada, Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace International (Dr. Janet Cotter), Simon
Dyer of the Pembina Institute; Don O’Connor; Aran O’Carroll; Dr. Kevin Timoney; Martin Von Mirbach.

The content of this paper is the full responsibility of Global Forest Watch Canada.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 

Contents
Highlights ........................................................................... 1
Acknowledgments ............................................................ 2
Introduction ....................................................................... 4
Contents of this paper .................................................... 4
A focus on peatlands ...................................................... 8
Background ........................................................................ 9
Capacity and production growth of Canada’s bituminous
sands .............................................................................. 9
GHG emissions from bitumen production ..................... 10
Canadian Boreal Initiative / Ducks Unlimited Canada (CBI/
DUC) and GHGenius analysis ........................................ 12
Failure of studies to perform full bituminous sands
industrial life cycle CO2eq emission assessments ......... 13
Methods .......................................................................... 15
Results ............................................................................. 20
Land use changes resulting from surface and in situ
mining and the carbon content of the changed
areas ............................................................................. 20
Natural ecosystems changed by bitumen surface
mining ........................................................................... 20
Peatlands: carbon sequestration loss from disturbance of
natural peatlands ......................................................... 20
Carbon emissions into the atmosphere due to loss of
biocarbon from bitumen industrial operations ............ 30
Discussion ....................................................................... 30
Comparison of results with CBI/DUC and GHGenius
analysis ......................................................................... 29
Peatlands ........................................................................ 29
Under- and over-estimation of biocarbon and GHG
emissions ...................................................................... 30
Implications for life cycle emissions of GHGs ................. 32
Conclusions ...................................................................... 32
Glossary ........................................................................... 34
Literature Cited ................................................................ 36
Annex: Review Process .................................................... 38
List of Figures
Figure 1. Alberta’s bituminous sands ................................ 5
Figure 2. Characteristic boreal ecosystems in the
bituminous sands region ................................................. 6
Figure 3. Bitumen mining activity ..................................... 7
Figure 4. Alberta’s Oil Sands Administration Area, Surface
Mineable Area, all approved and proposed surface
mining project areas (as of December 2008), and existing
bitumen surface leases (as of December 2008) for both
surface mining and in situ operations ............................ 17
Figure 5. Land cover types in the Oil Sands Administration
Area (after Ducks Unlimited, 2009) ................................ 18
Figure 6. Soil organic carbon content for northeastern
Alberta (after Tarnocai and Lacelle, 1996) ..................... 19
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Figure 7. Growth of bitumen surface mining between 1974
and June 1, 2009 ........................................................... 23
Figure 8. Surface mining footprint from existing
disturbances as of June 1, 2009, and from Approved and
Proposed projects .......................................................... 24
Figure 9. In situ footprint assuming development of all
leases approved as of December 2008 within the Oil
Sands Administration Area and assuming similar extent of
footprint as the OPTI-Nexen project at Long Lake ......... 25
Figure 10. Natural land cover of Suncor and Syncrude
surface mining area ........................................................26
Figure 11. Land cover of Surface Mineable Area ............. 27
Figure 12. Peatlands within the Surface Mineable
Area ................................................................................ 28
List of tables
Table 1. Estimates of GHG emissions from the bituminous
sands area ...................................................................... 11
Table 2. Reported GHG emissions from bituminous sands
industries for the Oil Sands Administration Area
2004-2007 (large GHG emitters; Environment Canada,
2008) .............................................................................. 11
Table 3. Average results of 13 models, and the result of the
GHGenius model specifically, of GHG emissions from the
production of fuels from bituminous sands compared to
conventional oil (Charpentier et al., 2009) .................... 11
Table 4. Estimates of disturbed area and soil organic
carbon (CBI/DUC study based on 2006 Landsat imagery)
– surface mining ............................................................. 12
Table 5. Estimates of disturbed area and soil carbon
(GHGenius) – generic oil ................................................ 12
Table 6. Methods used to calculate land area and natural
ecosystems changes, above and below ground biocarbon
stores, and lost carbon sequestration potentials in
changed areas within peatlands, resulting from
existing and future surface mining and in situ operations
areas ............................................................................... 15
Table 7. Area changed (and potentially changed) by
bitumen surface mining and in situ operations and carbon
content in changed areas ............................................... 21
Table 8. Bitumen surface mining areas: original (before
bituminous sands industrial activities) land cover -
generalized classes ......................................................... 21
Table 9. Bitumen surface mining areas: original (before
bituminous sands industrial activities) land cover -
detailed classes .............................................................. 22
Table 10. Potential loss of annual sequestration potential
from land use change of peatlands resulting from bitumen
surface mining and from in situ operations ................... 22
Table 11. Emissions from loss of biocarbon from bitumen
industrial activities ......................................................... 31
Page 
Introduction
There is a need for information about the environmental
impacts of bituminous sands industrial activities in Alberta,
Canada. The bituminous sands region in Alberta occupies
14,000,000 ha (Figure 1), and is located within Canadian
boreal forest ecosystems (Figure 2). The development
of bituminous sands is an energy intensive process
and introduces large industrial facilities into the boreal
landscape (Figure 3).

The extent of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution specifically

is a matter of growing national and international concern
(Bramley et al., 2005). The concern is exacerbated by
uncertainty as there is a paucity of relevant and complete
GHG emissions data available to the public while rapid
and major expansion of the bituminous sands industry is
ongoing.
The growing concern is also exacerbated by Alberta’s
and Canada’s failure to curb their large and growing
GHG emissions. In 2004, Canada produced 2.2% of all
global emissions of carbon dioxide, despite having less
than 0.5% of the global population. Canada was also the
tenth worst in the world for emissions per capita, behind
the United States and a few small countries with small
populations and large industries involved in the extraction
and transportation of fossil fuels (Marland et al., 2007).
Each Canadian produces twice as much carbon dioxide as
a person from Germany, 3.3 times as much as a person
from France, 3.4 times as much as a person from Sweden,
and more than five times as much as a person from
China. Alberta, the home of Canada’s bituminous sands,
contributes 31.4% of total Canadian emissions despite
having only 10% of Canada’s population. If Alberta were a
country, it would rank second in the world after Qatar for
global per capita emissions (Lee et al., 2009).
Sources of GHG emissions from bituminous sands
industrial activities include at least the following (Jacobs
Consultancy, 2009; Bergerson and Keith, 2006; Charpentier
et al., 2009):
• Loss of biological carbon (biocarbon), i.e. the carbon
stored in living plants, decaying and dead plants and
as soil organic carbon, from natural ecosystems due
to land use change caused by bitumen extraction; the
construction of facilities, roads, wellpads, and pipelines;
and other disruptions of stored above and below
ground biocarbon found in vegetation, soils and peat;
• Loss of biocarbon from natural ecosystems due to land
use changes caused by exploration and development for
the natural gas used in the bitumen processing (roads,
wellpads, pipelines and other disruptions of stored
Dan Woynillowicz, Pembina Institute
The Suncor oil sands upgrading plant north of Fort McMurray.
above and below ground biocarbon found in vegetation,
soils and peat);
• Release of gases from mine faces;
• Processing and upgrading of the bitumen;
• Refining the synthetic crude oil;
• Transportation of the synthetic crude oil and bitumen;
• Burning of the refined products by end-users;
• Transportation of workers;
• Facilities construction and decommissioning;
• Manufacturing and disposal of heavy equipment.
Canada’s 2007 GHG emissions
“Total GHG emissions in Canada in 2007 were
747 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt of
CO2eq), an increase of 4.0% from 2006 levels, and of 0.8%
from 2004 levels. Overall, the long-term trend indicates
that emissions in 2007 were about 26% above the 1990
total of 592 Mt. This trend shows a level 33.8% above
Canada’s Kyoto target of 558.4 Mt.” (Government of
Canada, 2008)
Contents of this paper
This paper provides estimates of land use changes,
biological carbon content and consequent potential
greenhouse emissions due to existing and future surface
mining and in situ extraction of bitumen in Alberta,
Canada. It provides a special focus on land use change of
peatlands, carbon content, loss of sequestration potential
and the potential resulting impacts on the regional
and provincial peatland ecosystems to continue to act
collectively as a carbon sink.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 

Figure 1. Location of Alberta’s bituminous sands.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 
 Figure 2. Photographs of boreal
ecosystems. Top: Upland forest
(with logging clearcuts). Middle:
The Athabasca River delta is one
of the largest fresh water deltas
in the world and is downstream
from Alberta’s oil sands operations.
Bottom: The Athabasca River near
Fort McMurray.

Aran O’Carroll
David Dodge, Pembina Institute
David Dodge, Pembina Institute

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 

Figure 3. Photographs of bitumen
mining activity. Top: Suncor upgrader.
Middle: In situ bituminous sands
developments are major industrial
facilities, and may include an
upgrader to convert bitumen into
synthetic crude oil. Bottom: Syncrude
Mine.

David Dodge, Pembina Institute

David Dodge, Pembina Institute
David Dodge, Pembina Institute

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 

A focus on peatlands
Although there is a growing interest in the Albertan and
Canadian governments to build industrial carbon capture
and storage facilities for bituminous sands industrial
activities, natural boreal forest ecosystems “have been
doing the job in a tried and tested way for millennia.….
Terrestrial ecosystems store almost three times as much
carbon as in the atmosphere. Tropical and boreal forest
ecosystems represent the largest stores. The maintenance
of existing carbon reservoirs is among the highest priorities
in striving for climate change mitigation.” (Trumper et al.,
2009)
Approximately 24 % of the boreal forest world-wide
is occupied by peatlands (Wieder et al., 2006); 40%
of western boreal forest of Canada (Vitt et al., 2008).
Boreal peatlands in particular have a large amount of
sequestered atmospheric carbon, estimated to be about
455 Pg (455,000 megatonnes) or one third of the world’s
soil carbon (Vitt and Wieder, 2006). Tarnacoi et al. (2009)
recently estimated that the area of all soils in the northern
permafrost region is 16% of the global soil area and that
the organic carbon from the peat in these permafrost
areas would account for 50% of the estimated global
belowground organic carbon pool.
Carbon cycling in peat is unusual because of the
importance of methane production and oxidation
pathways, made possible by the proximity of aerobic and
anaerobic zones within the peat deposit (Vitt and Wieder,
2006).
Google Earth Image
McLelland Lake, patterned fen, and roads and clearcuts.
  The Alberta Government has announced the Carbon Capture and
Development Council to bring together leading experts in the field to
develop meaningful solutions. Alberta is also investing $2B in carbon
and storage to reduce GHG emissions and has legislation which puts a
price on carbon for large emitters (Specified Gas Emitters Regulation).
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
The 14,042,214 ha region of the bituminous sands
industrial activities in northern Alberta contains large
areas covered by peatlands. The bituminous sands
industrial activities are depleting these peatlands resulting
in releases of stored carbon by aerobic and anaerobic
respiration and the loss of annual sequestration potential.
Only 5% of the peatlands in the bituminous sands region
need to be drained/removed to exceed the annual
peatland carbon sink of the region (see box below).
Carbon in Peatlands
“The C accumulated in peatlands is equivalent to almost
half the total atmospheric content, and a hypothetical
sudden release would result in an instantaneous 50%
increase in atmospheric CO2. While this scenario is
unrealistic, it nevertheless highlights the central role
of peatlands where huge amounts of CO2 have almost
entirely been “consumed” since the last glacial maximum,
but could respond differently as a result of future changes
in climatic conditions. Peatlands have, hence, over the last
10,000 years helped to remove significant amounts of CO2
from the atmosphere.” (Drösler et al., 2008)
5% Destruction of Peatlands Results in Loss
of Peatlands as a Carbon Sink
“Only 5% of peatlands in Canada (or a specific region)
need to be drained/harvested to exceed the annual
peatland carbon sink of the country (or a specific region).
For example, assuming 5% of peatlands in Canada were
drained and harvested, the total natural peatland area
would be 13.2 X 107 ha, representing a carbon storage rate
of 3000 X 107 kg C. Carbon loss from the drained peatland
area (765 X 107 ha) using the oxidation rate of peat (4000
kg C ha / year) would equal 3100 X 107 kg C. Consequently,
the net sink function in Canada would be lost and
converted to a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere if
drained/cutover peatlands exceeded 5% of the total
peatland area. ….. [A]ssuming that these CO2 evolution
rates are representative globally, the global carbon sink is
nearing the threshold of being changed from a net carbon
sink to a net carbon source. Some regions of Canada (e.g.,
eastern Québec and New Brunswick) where drainage
of peatlands for horticulture is prevalent may already
exceed this threshold. Moreover, drainage of peatlands in
some countries in Europe already exceeds 5% of the total
peatland area [Gorham, 1991]. For example, estimates
by Gorham [1991] suggest that the Fennoscandia region
exceeds this 5% drained:natural peatland threshold, with
31.4% of peatlands drained and that other regions are
approaching this threshold, such as Russia at 2.6%, United
States at 1.1%, and global average at 3.3%.” (Waddington
et al., 2002)
Page 
Background
Capacity and production growth of Canada’s
bituminous sands
In 2008, the International Energy Agency estimated that
Alberta’s bituminous sands contain 1.7 trillion barrels of
bitumen. Proven reserves—those that can be extracted
given prevailing and expected economic and operating
conditions—were estimated to exceed 170 billion barrels
as of January 2008, ranking Canada second only to
Saudi Arabia (International Energy Agency, 2008; British
Petroleum, 2008). This represents approximately 14%
of global oil reserves (Bergerson and Keith, 2006). This
volume is much larger than that contained, for example,
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is estimated
to have less than 10 billion barrels (Energy Information
Administration, 2008).
Bitumen production tripled between 1990 and 2006
(International Energy Agency, 2008) and may well
more than triple again in the next few decades (Energy
Information Administration, 2008). In 2006, production
was equal to 1.4 percent of global oil production and to
roughly 6% of total U.S. oil consumption, 9% of U.S. oil
imports (including refined products), 13% of US crude
oil imports (Alberta Government, 2009) and 24% of US
domestic oil production. Since 2004, Canada has been the
biggest source of US oil imports (Levi, 2009).
There are a range of estimates of future growth, including:
• If production were to reach 5 million barrels per day
(mbpd) in 2025, as predicted by the Energy Information
Administration, production from oil sands would meet
15% of North American and 4.2% of predicted global oil
demand (Energy Information Administration, 2005);
• The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
estimates that Alberta’s 2006 bitumen production
makes up roughly half of western Canada’s total crude
oil production (Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers, 2007), and is expected to grow from roughly
1.1 mbpd in 2006 to approximately 4.4 mbpd in 2015
and to about 5.3 mbpd in 2020 (under their Pipeline
Planning Case);
  The EIA estimates that about 10 billion barrels are technically
recoverable; fewer will likely be economically recoverable (Energy
Information Administration, 2008).
  At 170 billion barrels of proven reserves—those that can be
extracted given prevailing and expected economic and operating
conditions— and at a production rate of 1.1 mbpd, there would be 423
years of supply; at a production rate of 3.4 mbpd, there would be 140
years of supply; and at a production rate of 4.4 mbpd, there would be
106 years of supply.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
• The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
reports that by 2015, production is expected to grow
to between 2 to 4.5 mbpd based on several forecasts
(Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, 2007);
• A researcher with the Alberta Energy Resources
Conservation Board estimates that growth in bitumen
production is expected to average 9% annually from
2007 to 2017, and is in line with the average annual
growth of bitumen production in Alberta that has
occurred over the last 10 years (Elliot, 2008);
• The Alberta Government (2009) has stated: “Our
knowledge of the oil sands resource shows that it
is possible to produce 6.0 or more mbpd from this
deposit.” They believe that a mid-range level of demand
would result in production of 4.0 to 4.5 mbpd and that
this is achievable at a growth rate of 20% per year (6.0
or more mbpd under a high-end scenario);
• In one scenario, 8 mbpd was considered as an upper
limit for 2050 (CEMA-SEWG, 2008).
Expanded bitumen production
depends on:
• Market price for synthetic crude oil (SCO) and diluted
bitumen;
• Continued availability of natural gas or alternate
forms of cost-effective input energy to process the
bitumen (e.g., coal, nuclear, toe-to-heel air injection,
gasification, asphaltenes, electromagnetic heating),
solvents (e.g., ethane, propane, or butane) or biological
activity (e.g., microbes);
• Global energy demand;
• Costs and physical constraints (e.g., labour cost and
availability);
• Developments of new technologies and innovations;
and
• Severity of policy constraints on pollution, including
GHG emissions.
  At 170 billion barrels of proven reserves—those that can be
extracted given prevailing and expected economic and operating
conditions— and at production rate of 8 mbpd, there would be 58 years
of supply.
Page 
GHG emissions from bitumen production
Extraction of bitumen by surface
mining and in situ activities
Bitumen is extracted either by surface mining or in
situ operations. Surface mining techniques remove the
vegetation, soil and surficial deposits layer and then
remove the bituminous sand deposits by truck and shovel
and extract the bitumen by mixing the bituminous sand
with water warmed using natural gas (Alberta Chamber of
Resources, 2004).
In situ technology is used for deeper deposits where
natural gas is primarily used to produce steam that is
injected to reduce the viscosity of the bitumen which is
then pumped to the surface using production wells.
The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board
reported that 40% of the bitumen produced in 2007 was
produced from in situ operations while the other 60%
was produced from surface mining (Energy Resources
Conservation Board, 2008). It is currently estimated that
82% of the recoverable bitumen deposits will be extracted
using in situ technologies (Energy Resources Conservation
Board, 2008). This extraction will occur over many
decades; perhaps over a century.
There are various estimates of a limited portion of the GHG
emissions from bitumen production (Table 1).
The Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and
Economy (Bergeron and Keith, 2006) estimated that if
emissions in Alberta and Canada remain at 2000 emissions
levels and the production of bitumen from the oil sands
is increased to 5 mbpd without any further reduction
in emission intensity, the bituminous sands industrial
activities would account for approximately 15% of Canada’s
and 55% of Alberta’s GHG emissions (Bergerson and Keith,
2006).
Environment Canada’s National Pollution Release Inventory
(2009) reports emissions from 15 point sources in the bitu-
minous sands area (see Table 2). These emissions totalled
35.9 megatones in 2007, 26.0% higher than in 2004.
A 2009 review (Charpentier et al., 2009) of GHG emissions
associated with only the immediate production of fuels
from bituminous sands identified substantially higher GHG
emissions associated with current production of synthetic
crude oil (SCO) and non-upgraded bitumen, compared to
fuels produced from conventional crude oil (see Table 3)
(Bergerson and Keith, 2006).
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Some of the non-refereed studies and reports tend to
minimize the GHG emissions intensity from bituminous
sands industrial activities by not including emissions from
land use conversions, extraction of natural gas used for
processing bitumen and a large number of other GHG
emitting activities. Their estimates do however, include
downstream emissions, such as combustion of the
final fuel product by consumers, and not just emissions
associated with production (Levi, 2009). This inclusion
reduces the focus on the increased emissions from the
production of bitumen and other upstream GHG emissions
associated with bituminous sands industrial activities. The
majority of lifecycle emissions – 60 to 85% -- come from
combustion of the final product (liquid transportation
fuels) (Bergerson and Keith, 2006).
Other reports provide estimates compared to oil produced
from regions in the world with few if any environmental
standards and poor operating practices, such as Nigeria
(Tiax LLC and MathPro Inc., 2009).
These reports do not analyze GHG emissions from several
sources from the bituminous sands industrial activities,
including biocarbon emissions from land use change,
biocarbon emissions from exploration and development of
natural gas used in the bitumen processing, transportation
of workers, facilities construction, and manufacturing and
disposal of heavy equipment. However, some of these
reports do acknowledge their omission of “emissions that
may arise from land use, resource exploration, the building
of infrastructure and facilities, manufacturing and disposal
of heavy equipment.” (Jacobs Consultancy, 2009)
The Council on Foreign Relations Center for Geoeconomic
Studies reports that the GHG emissions from a barrel of
the bituminous sands synthetic crude exceed the average
emissions generated for a barrel of (conventional) oil
consumed in the United States by about only 17 percent
(Levi, 2009). But they acknowledge that this is due mainly
to emissions from production and upgrading, which
are nearly three times higher for the average barrel of
bituminous sands crude than for the average barrel of oil
consumed in the United States.
Page 10
Table 1. Estimates of GHG emissions from the bituminous sands area.
Estimated megatonnes of CO2eq (eq = equivalent)
2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2010 2015 2020
Bergerson and Keith, 2006 23
Bramley et al., 2005 25.2  27.8-28.1  26.6-27.3  32.2-33.5  39.3-41.4 61.9-67.9 108.0-126.5 113.1-141.6
Environment Canada, 2009 25.8 28 32.9 35.9

Table 2. Reported GHG emissions from bituminous sands industries for the Oil Sands Administration Area 2004-2007
(large GHG emitters; Environment Canada, 2008).
    Year
Company Facility Name 2004 2005 2006 2007
Muskeg River Cogeneration Power
ATCO Power Canada Ltd. 1,152,866 1,285,325 1,198,461 1,155,885
Plant
Wolf Lake/Primrose Thermal
Canadian Natural Resources Limited 1,896,050 1,880,603 2,474,618 2,468,349
Operation
Foster Creek SAGD Bitumen
FCCL Oil Sands Partnership 315,940 262,357 417,695 634,016
Battery
Christina Lake SAGD Bitumen
FCCL Oil Sands Partnership 107,523 110,533 113,496 111,556
Battery
FCCL Oil Sands Partnership Foster Creek Cogeneration Facility 465,759 486,764 509,660 634,016
Husky Oil Operations Ltd Tucker Thermal 0 0 0 250,069
Imperial Oil Resources Cold Lake 4,174,980 4,128,065 4,619,666 4,537,337
Hangingstone SAGD
Japan Canada Oil Sands Limited 165,208 230,082 239,461 216,555
Demonstration Facility
Nexen Inc./Opti Canada Inc. Long Lake Project 0 0 0 132,824
MacKay River, In-Situ Oil Sands
Petro-Canada 231,057 172,717 164,313 160,202
Plant
Shell Canada Limited Peace River Complex 367,271 414,068 372,058 367,924
Shell Canada Limited Muskeg River Mine 255,347 246,928 273,511 480,218
Suncor Energy Inc. Oil Sands Suncor Energy Inc. Oil Sands 8,599,254 7,694,458 9,132,040 9,261,437
Mildred Lake and Aurora North
Syncrude Canada Ltd. 10,367,463 10,357,330 12,620,212 14,936,539
Plant Sites
TransCanada Energy Ltd. Mackay River Power Plant, Alberta 419,387 713,465 729,854 571,520
Total (tonnes CO2eq) 28,518,105 27,982,695 32,865,045 35,918,445
Total (megatonnes CO2eq) 28.5 28.0 32.9 35.9

Table 3. Average results of 13 models, and the result of the GHGenius model specifically, of GHG emissions from the
production of fuels from bituminous sands compared to conventional oil (Charpentier et al., 2009).
13 Models GHGenius Model
Average Increase
Increase of CO2eq/bbl
  Range of of CO2eq/bbl
CO2eq/bbl SCO (kg) SCO (kg) compared to
CO2eq/bbl SCO (kg) SCO compared to
conventional oil
conventional oil
Surface Mining and Upgrading 62 to 164 2.4 125 2.2
In situ extraction and upgrading 99 to 176 3.2 176 3.0

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 11

Canadian Boreal Initiative / Ducks Unlimited Table 4. Estimates of disturbed area and soil organic
Canada (CBI/DUC) and GHGenius analysis carbon (CBI/DUC study based on 2006 Landsat imagery)
– surface mining.
Two information sources provide estimates of the Land % of disturbed area tonnes C/hectare
biocarbon footprint associated with land use changes from Peatlands 36% 1,347
bituminous sands operations – a 2008 unpublished white Mineral wetlands 19% 200
paper from the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) and Ducks Upland forests 44% 171
Unlimited Canada (DUC) that considered land use changes Weighted average 100% 601
from existing surface mining and Natural Resources
Canada’s GHGenius 3.13 model (2008) that considered Table 5. Estimates of disturbed area and soill carbon
some land use changes from existing surface mining: (GHGenius) – generic oil.
neither considered in situ operations. Land % of disturbed area tonne C/hectare
CRP, pasture, grass 65% 70
The CBI/DUC analysis assessed the spatial scale of the Forest 10% 70
surface mining disturbance by analyzing historical and Desert 20% 10
current satellite imagery as well as aerial photographs. Generic agriculture 5% 70
Approximately 45,300 ha was estimated to have been Weighted average 100% 58
disturbed by surface mining as of 2006, an estimated 75%
of which was largely composed of surface mines or settling
report notes, though, that the lower end scenario is
ponds, the remainder being other infrastructure such as
considered unlikely since wetlands in particular are difficult
plant facilities, roads, and waste storage areas.
to restore and reclaimed wetlands will not have deep
layers of peat. In addition, the restoration of ecosystems
Three major categories of terrestrial ecosystems were
and the re-sequestering of biocarbon, should they actually
identified: carbon-rich peatlands, mineral wetlands, and
occur, could take many decades or even centuries.
upland forests. Carbon content estimates were used
based on assessments in the literature and an internal
Two uncertainties required further research: the
assessment by Ducks Unlimited. Table 4 (Table 4
proportion of biocarbon removed that is eventually
reproduced from the NRDC report) summarizes the results.
emitted to the atmosphere, and potential future trends in
biocarbon emissions from mining plus in situ extraction.
The cumulative production of surface mining was
Further evaluation of the type of peatland disturbed
estimated based on government data so that an average
(e.g. bog versus fen); the variations in carbon/methane
soil carbon emissions factor could be calculated per unit
releases; the temporal patterns of the emissions; and
of production. Approximately 71 hectares of natural
the effectiveness of the reclamation projects would also
ecosystems were estimated to be removed per million m3
improve assessments.
of bitumen/SCO produced. The loss of biocarbon equated
to 0 to 4.0 g CO2eq/MJ of fuel produced, or approximately
A second set of estimates is available using GHGenius
0 to 11.0% of the total source-to-tank GHG emissions. The
3.13, which uses both Suncor and Syncrude’s annual
higher end of the estimates represents all the biocarbon
reports to make estimates of disturbed areas of surface
removed from these areas and being emitted to the
mining but makes no estimates of disturbed area for in situ
atmosphere. The lower end represents the possibility
disturbances. The model calculates that the loss of both
that all the land is eventually reclaimed and restored to
soil and biocarbon together represent 0.09 g CO2eq/MJ of
conditions equivalent to the original ecosystems. The
fuel produced, or approximately 0.28% of the total source-
to-tank GHG emissions (Natural Resources Canada, 2008).
   The citations in the CBI/DUC report (“Biological Carbon Emission
Intensity of Oil Sands Mining”) are: (1) Gorham E. 1991. Northern Differences in methodology and assumptions explain the
peatlands: role in the carbon cycle and probable response to climatic
warming. Ecological Applications 1:182-195. (2) Research conducted majority of differences between GHGenius and the CBI/
on Prairie wetlands by Ducks Unlimited Canada, and (3) Kurz WA and DUC evaluation.
MJ Apps. 1999. A 70-year retrospective analysis of carbon fluxes in the
Canadian forest sector. Ecological Applications 9(2):526-547. To better understand the differences between the two
   Calculation based on using upstream gasoline emission
analyses, the GHGenius assumptions were compared, by
production figures, but substituting the Land Use Changes amount
of g/GJ, from Table 6-12 in: Natural Resources Canada. 2008. 2008 Mui et al. (2008), to those of the CBI/DUC analysis (2008).
GHGenius Update: Final Report. Office of Energy Efficiency. Available at: GHGenius considers a generic, default set of factors for the
http://www.ghgenius.ca/reports/FinalReportGHGenius2008Update.pdf “oil production” category. An average soil carbon emission
(08/07/2009).
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 12
factor is also derived by weighing different disturbed lands
with their respective emission factors within the model.
The results are shown in Table 5 (Table 5 from the NRDC
report).
GHGenius estimates that approximately 59 hectares are
disturbed for each million cubic metres produced, which is
fairly close to the 71-hectare value derived by CBI/DUC.
Natural Resources Defense Council explains the differences
between the two estimates by comparing Tables 4 and
5. Part of the differences can be ascribed to the order
of magnitude difference in the soil carbon emissions
factor. The default generic oil category used by GHGenius
is clearly not applicable for bituminous sands, but the
emission factors and disturbed area can be adjusted
by the user. The CBI/DUC estimates consider peat and
mineral wetlands, which have much larger soil carbon
factors than those assumed in GHGenius for the generic oil
category. The second difference – though relatively minor
by comparison – is the estimated land area disturbed per
unit of production as noted above. The third difference
appears to be in terms of the accounting methodology:
specifically the amortization and discounting of future
CO2eq emissions. The methodogy used by GHGenius is
based on the methodology by Delucchi (1998) for energy-
crop systems. GHGenius assumes that the soil carbon
takes 5 years to decompose into atmospheric CO2eq,
such that approximately 1/5 of the loss is attributed to
each barrel produced. It is unclear why the Delucchi
approach for energy crops is appropriate for surface
mining of bituminous sands. The Delucchi methodology
amortizes emissions in cases where land is initially
changed but crops can be grown continuously over a
time period (e.g. a 30 year project life). Thus, to put the
land use change factor on a per gallon basis (e.g. g CO2eq
lost/gallon), the initial loss of soil carbon would need to
be distributed, or amortized, over the entire production
volume expected for the project’s lifetime. In contrast to
biofuels, the land use change factor for bituminous sands
is already on an incremental barrel basis (or volume of fuel
produced). Once an area is mined, it is assumed that no
further production from that area occurs, which means
amortization is unnecessary.
The CBI/DUC report also identified several additional areas
for further research:
• Accurate estimates of the biocarbon emissions
associated with bituminous sands mining;
• The potential future trends in biocarbon emissions from
bituminous sands mining;
• An evaluation of biocarbon emissions associated with in
situ bituminous sands development.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Failure of studies to perform full bituminous
sands industrial life cycle CO2eq emission
assessments
The full life cycle environmental impacts of bituminous
sands industrial activities are complex and poorly
understood (Bergerson and Keith, 2006). There are
presently no full life cycle GHG analyses for bituminous
sands operations.
Although some bituminous sands companies current
annual emissions reports include some “upstream
emissions,” such as emissions from mine faces (Suncor
Energy, 2009), the definition of “upstream” is unclear in
the literature. It appears that it is simply the emissions
from the energy used in the extraction and upgrading
processes and does not include most emissions from loss
of stored biocarbon or other emissions.
The bituminous sands Surface Mineable Area totals
488,968 ha of northern Alberta’s boreal ecosystems. In
addition to surface mining, in situ bitumen production
will occur over a projected area of 13,553,246 ha (Oil
Sands Administration Area minus the Surface Mineable
Area), although the availability of the entire area for
bitumen industrial activities may change. Few, if any, of
the biocarbon emissions resulting from land use change
caused by the bituminous sands industrial activities in
these areas are reported.
The failure to perform full bituminous sands life cycle
CO2eq emissions assessments may be related to:
• Inadequate direction from the IPCC GHG guidance
documents for changes to / conversions of peatlands
from bitumen industrial activities;
   The total mineable area is 488,968 ha; of that, 200,000 ha
is expected, according to the Alberta Government, to be mined.
[Government of Alberta. 2009. Facts about Alberta’s oil sands: the
resource. Available at: http://www.oilsands.alberta.ca/documents/The_
resource.pdf (07/07/2009).] However, no explanation is provided for the
discrepancy between the formally designated Surface Mineable Area
and areas expected to be mined.
  2.9% of this area is considered “protected area” and will likely not
be available for bitumen industrial activities (Lee PG, M Hanneman, JD
Gysbers, and R Cheng. 2009. The last great intact forests of Canada:
Atlas of Alberta. (Part II: What are the threats to Alberta’s forest
landscapes?) Edmonton, Alberta: Global Forest Watch Canada. 145
pp.). In addition: the Alberta Government-supported Cumulative
Effects Management Association has the mandate to develop guidelines
and mechanisms to reduce cumulative effects in the regions; the
Alberta Land Stewardship Act provides legal footing for the Land Use
Framework; the Alberta Government-appointed Lower Athabasca
Regional Advisory Council (LARAC) is undertaking a regional plan,
and; the Alberta Government has requested the LARAC to consider
increasing conservation protection to 20% or more.
Page 13
 • Inadequate direction from the Global Reporting
Initiative G3 guidelines or other federal and provincial
government-mandated reporting requirements;
• Uncertain time periods for decomposition of biocarbon
changed/converted due to bituminous sands industrial
activities;
• The diffuse nature of the distribution of in situ land use
change over a large geographic area;
• Uncertain GHG outcomes of reclamation; and/or
• The boundaries for GHG analyses are often drawn
tightly, excluding potentially important activities with
significant life cycle impacts (Bergerson and Keith,
2006). Cornus canadensis, a common under-story plant in the boreal.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 14

Methods
We estimated land area and natural ecosystem changes caused by bitumen surface mining and in situ activities for existing
operations and for future operations (see Figure 4 for locations of these activities). From these estimates, we calculated
the volume of natural biocarbon in these changed areas and the potential resulting CO2eq emissions (Table 6).

Table 6. Methods used to calculate land area and natural ecosystems changes, above and below ground biocarbon
stores, and lost carbon sequestration potentials in changed areas within peatlands, resulting from existing and future
surface mining and in situ operations areas.
Major topic areas that were analyzed Sub-topic areas that were analyzed Notes (see below)
Surface Mining to June 1 2009 1
Land area changed as a result of
Future Surface Approved and Proposed Projects 2
surface mining
mining Potential Surface Mining Area 3
Surface Mining to June 1 2009 4
Natural ecosystem types
Future Surface Approved and Proposed Projects 2+5
changed by surface mining
mining Potential Surface Mining Area 3+5
Land area changed as a result of In situ leases to Dec 30 2008 6
in situ activities Future in situ activities 7
Biocarbon (above and below Surface Mining to June 1 2009 8
ground) in areas changed by Future Surface Approved and Proposed Projects 9
surface mining activities mining Potential Surface Mining Area 10
Biocarbon (above and below In situ leases to Dec 30 2008 6 + 11
ground) in areas changed by in
Future in situ activities 7 + 12
situ activities
Potential loss of carbon sequestration from natural peatlands within surface mining areas disturbed
as of June 1 2009, future surface mining, in situ exisitng projects and undeveloped leases, and the Oil 13
Sands Administration Area

Notes:
1. We mapped, using a recent (June 1, 2009) Landsat 5 satellite image (Path 43/Row 20), the extent of surface mining
facilities (open pit mines, tailings ponds, mine waste, overburden piles and associated plants, and other major infrastructure
– except for those roads and pipelines which are associated with the bitumen industrial operations but are located outside
the immediate surface mining areas). The medium-coarse resolution of Landsat imagery results in an underestimation of land
use changes from existing surface mining activities.
2. We determined the geographic location and area of Approved projects (minus the area already changed as of June 1,
2009) and Proposed projects (as of December, 2008). We were able to include 5 Proposed (Jackpine Expansion, Joslyn North,
Northern Lights, Pierre River and Voyageur South) and 7 Approved (Aurora North, Fort Hills, Horizon, Jackpine Mine Phase 1,
Kearl Lake, Muskeg River Expansion and Steepbank Extension) surface mining projects. We were unable to map major roads
and pipelines which are associated with these operations. Therefore the results are an underestimate of land use changes
from highly-likely near-future surface mining activities.
3. All of the 488,968 ha area defined by the Government of Alberta as Surface Mineable Area was included as area for
potential natural ecosystems changes, except for the Athabasca River and large lakes.
4. We used recent and historic land cover data produced by Ducks Unlimited (unpublished data; based on 1974 and 2002
Landsat satellite imagery – and, for areas already disturbed by surface mining prior to 1974, based on the 1949-51 1:60,000
air photo mosaic available from the Government of Canada) (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2009).
5. We used the recent land cover data produced by Ducks Unlimited (unpublished data based on 1974 and 2002 Landsat
satellite imagery) (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2009) (Figure 5).
6. We used calculations (from Schneider and Dyer, 2006 ) of the extent of in situ activities (including central facility,
exploration wells, production wells, access roads, and aboveground pipeline collection system) for the OPTI-Nexen Long Lake
project (8.3% of the project area cleared for SAGD infrastructure), to extrapolate the extent of ecosystem changes to the
other 85 in situ projects plus the other existing leases as of December 2008.
7. We used calculations (from Schneider and Dyer, 2006 ) of the extent of in situ activities, as described in #6 above to
extrapolate the extent of these disturbances to the entire Oil Sands Administration as defined by the Government of Alberta,
minus the Surface Mineable Area.
... Cont’d next page

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 15

(Table 6 cont’d.)
Notes:
8. (1) For below ground carbon content we used the landscape footprint for each cover type converted to the amount of
carbon per square metre contained below ground as defined by the Soil Landscapes of Canada polygons (Tarnocai and
Lacelle, 1996) (see Figure 6); (2) For above ground carbon content: we used the amount of carbon contained above ground
as defined by Kurtz and Apps (1999) for forests of the Boreal West Ecoclimatic Province (estimated to store 25.2 Mg carbon
per ha) for the treed landcover class (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2009).
9. We used the calculations from the future extent (i.e., after June 1, 2009) of approved and proposed projects and converted
the estimates of land cover type to the amount of carbon contained below ground (defined by the Soil Landscapes of Canada
polygons - Tarnocai and Lacelle, 1996) and above ground (defined by Kurtz and Apps, 1999, for forests of the Boreal West
Ecoclimatic Province) for the treed landcover class (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2009).
10. All of the 488,968 ha area defined by the Government of Alberta as Surface Mineable Area was included as potential
surface mining disturbance, except for the Athabasca River and all large lakes. We converted the estimates of land cover type
as described in #9 above.
11. We multiplied #6 by the amount of carbon contained below ground (defined by the Soil Landscapes of Canada polygons -
Tarnocai and Lacelle, 1996), and; by the amount of carbon contained above ground, defined by treed land cover classes using
the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) dataset from Natural Resources Canada and assigning the carbon
content derived by Kurtz and Apps (1999) for forests of the Boreal West Ecoclimatic Province.
12. We multiplied #7 by the amount of carbon contained below and above ground as described in #11 above.
13. We used the landcover dataset from Ducks Unlimited Canada (2009) to calculate the extent of peatlands within the
surface mining areas disturbed as of June 1, 2009, and within future surface mining areas. We used the peatlands dataset
from Vitt et al. (1998) (all bog and fen wetland classes) for in situ existing projects and undeveloped leases and for the entire
Oil Sands Administration Area. We then used the net carbon sequestration value provided by Vitt et al. (2000) of 19.4 g C/
m2/year.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 16

Figure 4. Location of Alberta’s Oil Sands Administration Area, Surface Mineable Area, all approved and proposed surface
mining projects (as of December 2008), and existing bitumen surface leases (as of December 2008) for both surface
mining and in situ operations.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 17
Figure 5. Land cover mapping completed in the Oil Sands Administration Area (Ducks Unlimited).

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 18

Figure 6. Soil organic carbon polygons for northeastern Alberta.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 19

Results
Land use changes resulting from surface and
in situ mining and the carbon content of the
changed areas
Table 7 summarizes the results of the changed area
calculations resulting from bitumen surface and in situ
mining and the calculated carbon content in these changed
areas.
According to our analysis:
• Bitumen surface mining activities between 1974 and
2009 have grown significantly (Figure 7). As of June 1,
2009, 68,574 ha of natural boreal ecosystems have been
changed by bitumen surface mining activities, and this
area contains 21.0 megatonnes of carbon (Figure 8);
• An additional 94,850 ha are being or will soon be
changed by existing approved and proposed surface
mining projects, and this area contains 29.6 megatonnes
carbon (Figure 8);
• Another potential 325,544 ha are likely to be changed in
the Surface Mineable Area and this area contains 90.1
megatonnes of carbon;
• This equals a total of 488,968 ha changed and potentially
changed by surface mining, and this area contains 140.7
megatonnes of carbon;
• An additional 644,373 ha has been or potentially will
be changed within in situ leases issued as of December
2008, and this area contains 284.0 megatonnes of carbon
(Figure 9);
• The total Oil Sands Administration Area is 14,042,214
ha. Assuming in situ development requires 8.3% of the
land in this area (but outside of the Surface Mineable
Area), 1,124,919 ha will potentially be directly changed
by existing and future in situ operations, and this area
contains 438.2 megatonnes of carbon;
• All together, this is a total of 1,613,887 ha of natural
ecosystems (20 times the size of the City of Calgary, 40
times the size of the City of Denver, 17 times the size of
East/West Berlin) that are or will potentially be changed
by bitumen surface mining and in situ operations; and
• The areas changed by present and potential surface
mining and in situ operations contain 578.9 megatonnes
of carbon.
Natural ecosystems changed by bitumen
surface mining
The generalized and detailed ecosystems, or land cover
classes, of the Surface Mineable Area are summarized in
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Tables 8 and 9, respectively. Of the area changed by surface
mining activities as of June 1, 2009, wetlands comprised
35,914 ha, or 52.4%, of the original pre-disturbance area.
Upland forest comprised 31,739 ha, or 46.3%, of the original
pre-disturbance area (Tables 8 and 9; Figure 10).
Of the Surface Mineable Area, wetlands comprised 209,615
ha, or 42.8%, of the original pre-disturbance area. Upland
forest comprised 205,591 ha, 42.0%, of the pre-disturbance
area (Figure 11).
Peatlands: carbon sequestration loss from
disturbance of natural peatlands
Peatlands in the Surface Mineable Area that will have been
or may be changed/converted comprised:
• 23,704 ha as of June 1, 2009 (this is 5.4% of all the
peatlands that would be changed/converted under
a full development scenario within the Oil Sands
Administration Area);
• 36,064 ha of the Approved and Proposed projects
areas (minus the areas already changed) (this is 8.2%
of all the peatlands that would be changed/converted
under a full development scenario within the Oil Sands
Administration Area);
• 135,990 ha of the total Surface Mineable Area (this
is 31.0% of all the peatlands that would be changed/
converted under a full development scenario within the
Oil Sands Administration Area).
(See Table 10 and Figure 12.)
Peatlands in the in situ area that have been or may be
changed/converted comprise:
• 202,411 ha of existing in situ projects and undeveloped
leases (this is 46.1% of all the peatlands that would be
changed/converted under a full development scenario
within the Oil Sands Administration Area);
• 302,669 ha of the Oil Sands Administration Area minus
those peatlands within the Surface Mineable Area (this
is 69.0% of all the peatlands that would be changed/
converted under a full development scenario within the
Oil Sands Administration Area).
(See Table 10.)
The annual CO2 sequestration potential lost from this
area under full potential bitumen surface mining would
be 96.6 kilotonnes CO2/year (Table 10). The annual CO2
sequestration potential lost from in situ areas under full
potential development would be 215.2 kilotonnes CO2/year
(Table 10).
Page 20
Table 7. Area changed (and potentially changed) by bitumen surface mining and in situ operations and carbon content in
changed areas. (Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding).
Potential Area Below-ground Soil Above-ground Total Above and Below
Converted (and to Organic Carbon Organic Carbon Ground Organic Carbon
be converted (ha) (megatonnes) (7) (megatonnes) (megatonnes)
Surface Mining
As of June 2009 (1) 68,574 19.3 1.6 21.0
Approved new projects (2) 49,711 17.0 1.2 18.2
Proposed new projects (3) 45,139 10.4 1.0 11.4
SUBTOTAL 163,424 46.8 3.8 50.6

Surface Mineable Area (4) 488,968 130.9 9.8 140.7

Surface Mineable Area minus
approved (disturbed as of June
325,544 84.1 6.0 90.1
1, 2009 + new approved) and
proposed projects

In situ Mining
Existing Projects and
Undeveloped Leases (X8.3% 644,373 268.7 15.2 284.0
converted) (5)
Oil Sands Administration Area
minus Surface Mineable Area 1,124,919 412.7 25.5 438.2
(X8.3% converted) (6)

Notes:
1. Mapped from June 1, 2009 Landsat 5 image (open pit mines, tailings ponds, mine waste, overburden piles and associated plants, and other
major infrastructure – except for most roads and pipelines).
2. Approved projects include: Aurora North, Horizon, Jackpine Mine Phase 1, Muskeg River Expansion, Steepbank Extension, Kearl Lake and Fort
Hills. Areas to be changed were digitized from ERCB application decisions. Projects identified from Government of Alberta. 2009 Alberta’s Oil
Sands Projects: December 2008 and Alberta Oil Sands Industry Quarterly Update Summer 2009. Areas to be changed digitized from Alberta ERCB
Decisions: 2006-112 (Steepbank Extension); 2004-005 (Horizon); 2007-013 (Kearl); 2004-009 (Jackpine); 2006-128 (Muskeg River); 97-13 (Aurora
North); 2002-089 (Fort Hills). ERCB decisions are available at: www.ercb.ca
3. Proposed projects include: Northern Lights, Pierre River, Jackpine Expansion, Voyageur South and Joslyn North. Projects identified from
Government of Alberta. 2009 Alberta’s Oil Sands Projects: December 2008 and Alberta Oil Sands Industry Quarterly Update Summer 2009. Areas
to be changed were digitized from public documents available from interested companies: Synenco Energy Inc. 2006. Application for Approval
of the Northern Lights Mining and Extraction Project. Volume 2 - Project Description. p.1-5; Shell Canada Limited. 2007. Application for Approval
of the Jackpine Mine Expansion & Pierre River Mine Project. Volume 1, p.1-3 and Volume 2, p.1-3; Suncor Energy. 2007. Voyageur South Public
Disclosure Document. p.2-4. Available at: www.suncor.com; Deer Creek Energy Limited. 2006. The Joslyn North Mine Project. Section B - Project
Description. Figure B.1.1-1.
4. Government of Alberta (The expanded surface mineable boundary, as of June 2009 is based on the AltaLIS township grid.)
5. Projects identified from Government of Alberta. 2009 Alberta's Oil Sands Projects: December 2008. Areas to be converted from McElhaney
Surveys Ltd. 2009. Oil Sands Leases Athabasca Region (copyright). 8.3% of the project lease areas was assumed to be converted.
6. Government of Alberta.
7. Below-ground carbon includes dead organic matter.

Table 8. Bitumen surface mining areas: original (before bituminous sands industrial activities) land
cover - generalized classes.
As of June 2009 Proposed new projects Surface Mineable
Land Cover Type Approved projects (ha)
(ha) (ha) Area (ha)
Peatlands (ha) 23,704 18,659 17,405 135,990
Mineral wetlands (ha) 12,210 8,418 7,634 73,625
Upland forest (ha) 31,739 22,231 17,617 205,591
Water (ha) 453 109 172 9,211
Other (human
468 295 61 1,815
disturbances) (ha)
Unclassified (ha) 0 0 2,250 62,741
Total Area (ha) 68,574 49,711 45,139 488,973

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 21

Table 9. Bitumen surface mining areas: original (before bituminous sands industrial activities) land cover
- detailed classes.
Area Converted Approved Surface Proposed Surface
Surface Mineable
Land Cover Type as of June 1, Mining (as of Mining (as of
Area (ha)
2009 (ha) December 2008) (ha) December 2008) (ha)
Open Water 350 57 133 7,646
Aquatic Bed 98 52 40 1,554
Mudflats 0 1 0 746
Emergent Marsh 141 104 47 987
Meadow Marsh 47 0 0 236
Graminoid Fen 103 292 132 1,305
Graminoid Poor Fen 151 324 299 1,773
Shrubby Rich Fen 1,032 1,097 1,365 8,057
Shrubby Poor Fen 7 2 9 94
Rich Treed Fen 6,987 6,054 5,987 40,064
Poor Treed Fen 13,972 9,632 8,170 72,280
Shrubby Bog 72 84 163 1,126
Treed Bog 1,381 1,174 1,279 11,291
Thicket Swamp 877 1,020 1,084 11,047
Hardwood (Birch) Swamp 761 445 516 6,384
Mixedwood Swamp 632 616 320 4,937
Tamarack Swamp 107 593 530 4,345
Conifer Swamp 9,645 5,638 5,138 44,943
Upland Conifer 6,503 6,939 5,436 48,346
Upland Deciduous 20,867 12,300 10,337 126,444
Upland Mixedwood Forest 4,323 2,972 1,820 29,047
Upland Pine 0 0 0 1
Upland Other 45 0 24 1,754
Urban 468 20 61 1,815
Water 1974 5 295 0 11
Total Area (ha) (1) 68,574 49,711 42,889 426,232
Carbon Content
21.0 18.2 11.4 140.7
(megatonnes)
Notes:
1. Totals exclude Unclassified, Cloud and Cloud Shadow, and Burn Areas (unclassified) areas.

Table 10. Potential loss of annual sequestration potential from land use change of peatlands resulting from bitumen
surface mining and from in situ operations.

Peatland Area Lost CO2 Sequestration

 
Potentially Changed (ha) Potential (kilotonnes/yr)

Bitumen surface mining

As of June 2009 23,704 16.9
Approved new projects 18,659 13.3
Proposed new projects 17,405 12.4
Bitumen surface mining projects subtotal 59,767 42.5
Surface Mineable Area
Total Surface Mineable Area 135,990 96.7
Surface Mineable Area minus approved (disturbed as of June 1, 2009 + new
76,222 54.2
approved) and proposed projects
In situ activities
Existing Projects and Undeveloped Leases (x 8.3% changed) 202,411 143.9
Oil Sands Administration Area minus Surface Mineable Area (x 8.3% changed) 302,669 215.2

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 22

Figure 7. Growth of bitumen surface mining between 1974 and June 1, 2009.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 23

Figure 8. Surface mining footprint from existing disturbances as of June 1, 2009, and from Approved and Proposed
projects. Note: Not all of this area will be disturbed at the same time, as there will be ongoing reclamation.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 24
Figure 9. In situ footprint assuming development of all leases approved as of December 2008 within the Oil Sands
Administration Area. Note: Not all of this area will be disturbed at the same time, as there will be ongoing reclamation.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 25
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Page 26
Figure 10. Natural land cover of Suncor and Syncrude surface mining area.
Figure 11. Land cover of Surface Mineable Area.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 27

Figure 12. Peatlands within the Surface Mineable Area.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 28

Carbon emissions into the atmosphere due
to loss of biocarbon from bitumen industrial
operations
Although not all of the stored biocarbon in natural
ecosystems that are changed due to bitumen surface
mining and in situ operations will be emitted to the
atmosphere, if all of this carbon were released as carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere over the next decades, the
total emissions would be 2,121.3 megatonnes CO2 (579
megatonnes of carbon x 3.66 CO2).
If these biocarbon emissions occurred over the next
100 years, which may be a reasonable timeframe given
projected bitumen industry expansion scenarios, this
would amount to an average of presently unaccounted-
for emissions of 21.2 megatonnes CO2 per year from
bituminous sands industrial activities.
Given the unlikelihood of 100% of the disturbed natural
carbon stores being volatized and emitted into the
atmosphere, especially because of reclamation that utilizes
stockpiled carbon, it is also useful to examine a more likely
scenario of emissions. Table 11 (page 31) includes emission
values based on: a likely limit of total carbon volatization
based references commonly cited in the literature; ranges
of yearly emission flux scenarios based on minimum and
maximum emissions cited in the literature; and the value
calculated using IPCC Tier 1 assumptions (IPCC, 2006).
Discussion
Comparison of results with CBI/DUC and
GHGenius analyses
The proportion of peatlands, mineral wetlands and upland
forests in our analysis are very similar to the CBI/DUC
analysis (35 versus 36%; 18 versus 19% and 46 versus 44%,
respectively). This is to be expected as we used the same
basic data source but updated the disturbed area from
2006 to June 2009. The GHGenius analyzes area disturbed
based on extrapolations from Syncrude and Suncor reports
of land disturbance.
Both CBI/DUC and GHGenius provide intensity estimates
of area disturbed and potential emissions per unit of
synthyetic crude oil produced. GHGenius estimates that
approximately 59 hectares are disturbed for each million
cubic metres of synthetic crude oil produced, compared to
the CBI/DUC estimate of 71.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Using a similar analysis of total area disturbed as of June
1, 2009 and total synthetic crude oil production 1967-2008
(Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 2009),
our estimate is 123.6 hectares disturbed for each million
cubic metres of synthetic crude oil (plus mined bitumen)
produced. However, it is important to note that since total
synthetic crude oil production occurs for a long period
after the surface disturbances occur, the area disturbed
per unit of production will decline over time.
The key differences between our analyses and the CBI/DUC
(2008) and GHGenius (2008) analyses are:
• We used updated land use change data (June 1, 2009
for the surface mining area and related facilities
changed to that date, and December, 2008 for the in
situ leases and existing project areas);
• We used different source data on carbon content for
the boreal ecosystems (Figure 6) (Tarnocai and Lacelle,
1996);
• We included an analyses of in situ operations;
• We included an analysis of existing and potential future
bituminous sands industrial operations;
• We categorized all of the Government of Alberta’s
legislated Oil Sands Administration Area as potentially
leased by in situ operations and 8.3% of the natural
ecosystems of all lease areas to be changed (Figure 1)
(Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, 1984).
• We categorized all of the Government of Alberta
Surface Mineable Area as potentially surface mined for
bitumen.
Peatlands
The natural peatlands of continental western Canada
have historically increased their total carbon storage
by 19.4 g/m2/year (Vitt et al., 2000), indicating that
regionally this ecosystem has been a large carbon sink and
would be an important natural ecosystem for continuing
carbon sequestration, if these peatlands remained intact.
Although reclamation will sequester carbon from the
atmosphere, it is unlikely to replace most of the lost
biocarbon for thousands of years, especially in peatlands.
The peatlands portion of the area presently and potentially
changed/converted under a full development scenario
would have continued to sequester 311.8 kilotonnes of
carbon annually if left in a natural state. Under present
reclamation plans and given the limited progress to date
since bitumen surface mining began in 1967, future
volumes of long-term carbon sequestration and storage
will likely be insignificant in comparison to natural
peatland ecosystem sequestration and storage as “it
appears that peatlands as they exist in the predisturbance
landscape are not to be restored,” and Alberta’s “current
Page 29
laws, regulations, and policies are, to date, unable to set
the necessary landscape-scale objectives” (Johnson and
Miyanishi, 2008).
The Oil Sands Administration Area contains 461,838 ha
of peatlands that will be changed/converted under full
development scenario; this represents 11.2% of the
peatland area within the Oil Sands Administration Area
and 4.4% of the peatland area of Alberta (calculated
from Vitt et al., 1998). Only 5% of peatlands in a specific
region need to be drained/harvested to exceed the annual
peatland carbon sink of that region (Waddington et al.,
2002). The implication is that the annual peatland carbon
sink of the 14 million ha Oil Sands Administration Area
will potentially be vastly exceeded by the emissions from
destroyed peatlands, and that the annual peatland carbon
sink of Alberta will potentially be near the level of being
exceeded by the emissions from destroyed peatlands,
under full development scenario of the bituminous sands.
Under- and over-estimation of biocarbon and
GHG emissions
Although our estimates of land use changes, biocarbon
and loss of biocarbon due to bitumen industrial operations
do not fully consider the as-yet-unquantified future
successes of reclamation efforts to sequester and store
atmospheric carbon, our calculations still likely resulted in
underestimations for these reasons:
• There are a number of land use changes resulting from
bituminous sands industrial activities that were not
included in our analysis, such as seismic exploration
lines, many existing and planned roads and pipelines
in the Surface Mineable Area, and the area influenced
by in situ technology. Including such areas would
increase emissions from biocarbon. For example, in
situ production requires approximately four times the
amount of natural gas that is used for surface mining
on a production volume basis (Alberta Chamber of
Resources, 2004); therefore, the land area influenced
by in situ technology is actually comparable to land
disturbed by surface mining (Jordaan et al., 2009);
• In situ operations will likely result in a greater area of
land use change than the estimate provided by data
providers for the OPTI-Nexen Long Lake project (8.3%)
which we broadly applied for in situ projects in our
analysis. The length of seismic lines for the OPTI-Nexen
project was unknown and not included in the estimate
(Schneider and Dyer, 2006);
• The medium-coarse resolution of Landsat imagery that
we used for mapping existing disturbances results in
an underestimation of land use change from existing
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
surface mining activities. Using finer resolution remote
imagery would result in better detection of small
disturbance features and therefore increased emissions;
• Above-ground carbon was underestimated as we could
not determine the above-ground carbon content in
non-upland forest areas such as non-treed peatlands
and mineral wetlands, which comprise approximately
40% of the land cover. Above-ground carbon may also
be underestimated due to large areas (over 12% of the
Surface Mineable Area) that were “unclassified” as to
land cover type by the data providers (Ducks Unlimited
Canada, 2009);
• Below-ground carbon may be underestimated due to
assumptions by data providers regarding the depth
of peat (real-world depths often exceed 4 m and it is
unclear whether the field sampling locations for the Soil
Organic Carbon dataset was sufficiently robust in the
bituminous sands region to capture deep peat sites);
• Estimates for below-ground carbon may also be
underestimated due to unknown assumptions by data
providers (Soil Organic Carbon dataset) regarding live
roots as part of the carbon pool. The biomass carbon
content for Boreal West forest ecosystems, estimated in
1989, was 32.4 Mg C/ha, of which 25.2 Mg C/ha was in
aboveground living biomass and 7.2 Mg C/ha in fine and
coarse root biomass. To be cautious, we did not include
this 7.2 Mg C/ha in any of our calculations;
• Above-ground carbon may be underestimated due to
large areas (over 12% of the Surface Mineable Area)
that were “unclassified” as to land cover type by the
data providers (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2009);
• Some loss of carbon occurs due to the release of
methane, which is a more potent GHG than carbon
dioxide.
Our calculations of land use conversions and amount
of biocarbon due to bitumen operations likely contain
some overestimations for this reason: not all land use
conversions will result in equivalent releases of CO2eq from
the carbon contained within these converted ecosystems.
For example, some ecosystem conversions, such as those
resulting from above-ground pipelines which may only
temporarily remove surface vegetation, have a lighter
carbon conversion impact than central facilities and
wellsite pads which may remove the vegetation and the
soil layer, or may temporarily bury the soil carbon until
decommissioning.
Page 30
Table 11. Various emissions calculations from the loss of biocarbon from bitumen industrial activities (both surface
mining and in situ operations.
Carbon release Annual carbon
estimates based Range of annual carbon releases based on IPCC
Bitumen surface mining Total carbon content
on commonly cited releases (megatonnes carbon flux estimates
and in situ operations (megatonnes carbon)
references (megatonnes carbon/year) (megatonnes carbon/
carbon) year)
Surface Mineable Area
Below-ground carbon
Mineral Soil Carbon* 14.7 4.1a 0.01 f - 0.25 g 0.18 o
Peatland Carbon* 116.2 116.2b 0.96 h - 3.54 i 2.40 p
Total below-ground carbon 130.9 120.3    
Above-ground Carbon 9.8 9.8c 0.20 j
0.20 j
In-situ Extraction Area
Below-ground Carbon
Mineral Soil Carbon* 30.2 12.7d 0.07 k - 0.36 l 0.28 q
Peatland Carbon* 238.5 42.3e 0.81 m - 1.63 n 1.01 r
Total below-ground carbon 268.7 55.0    
Above-ground Carbon 15.23 15.2 c 0.30 j
0.30 j
Oil Sands Admin Area
Below-ground carbon
Mineral Soil Carbon* 46.4 19.5 d 0.11 k - 0.56 l 0.43 q
Peatland Carbon* 366.3 63.3 e 1.21 m - 2.43 n 1.51 r
Total below-ground carbon 412.7 82.8    
Above Ground Carbon 25.5 25.5 c 0.51 j
0.51 j
Notes:
*: Mineral soil and peatland carbon are distinguished using the following proportion of soil organic carbon: 89 % of soil organic carbon is found in
peatlands and 11% is found in mineral soil. (Ducks Unlimited Canada and Canadian Boreal Initiative (2008) unpublished white paper).
a: Visser et al. (1984) found that 28% of soil carbon was lost from stockpiles within 6 months.
b: Turetsky et al. (2002) assumed that 100% of peatland carbon is lost in 50 years.
c: IPCC (1996) guidance document gives 100% loss of vegetation carbon.
d: Guo and Gifford (2002) found a maximum decrease of 42% of soil carbon lost when converted from forest to cropland.
e: Cleary et al. (2005) found that peatlands under restoration emitted a total of 20.9 kg carbon /m2 resulting from land use change.
f: Visser et al. (1984) found a minimum 10.7% decrease in the amount of soil carbon stored in stockpiles over one year. This loss is divided by an
estimated 50 years of mine life.
g: Abdul-Kareem and McRae (1984) found that a sandy soil stockpile loses 85% of its organic matter. This loss is divided by an estimated 50 years
of mine life.
h: Couwenberg (2009) assigns a 43 tonne CO2 eq / ha /yr global warming potential for boreal peat stockpiles. The area of stockpiles is based on a
proportion of 16.8% of the surface mining area based on approved and proposed project layouts.
i: Finland Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (2007) measured the emissions from a peat stockpile and found the average emission amounted
to 15,772 g CO2 eq /m2 /yr. The area of stockpiles is based on a proportion of 16.8% of the surface mining area based on approved and proposed
project layouts.
j: 100% of the total above ground carbon is divided over 50 years.
k: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document using the following default values for conversion from dry boreal forest to set-aside land: land use:
0.93; full tillage: 1; inputs: 1.
l: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document using the following default values for conversion from dry boreal forest to long-term cultivated
land: land use: 0.8; full tillage: 1; inputs: 0.95.
m: Waddington et al. (2002) determined a conservative annual peat oxidation rate of 4000 kg C/ ha /yr.
n: Waddington and McNeil (2002) found that 7.7 g / CO2 / m2 / day oxided from peat cutovers.
o: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document using the following default values for conversion from dry boreal forest to cropland: land use: 0.8;
full tillage: 1.00; low residues returned: 0.95.
p: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document using the default decay constant for peatland stockpiles of 0.05 for 50 years, divided by 50 years.
q: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document using the following default values for conversion from dry boreal forest to cropland: land use: 0.8;
reduced tillage: 1.02; residues returned: 1.
r: Based in the IPCC (2006) guidance document which assigns an emissions factor of 5 T C /ha/yr for cultivated organic soils.

Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009) Page 31

Implications for life cycle emissions of GHGs
Including the volatization of biocarbon into life cycle GHG
emissions due to bitumen industrial activities may well
result in a significant addition to what has been normally
reported by governments and industry. Our estimates
add an additional 239.3 megatonnes of carbon (873.4
megatonnes of CO2), or 41.1% of total carbon contained
in the area disturbed by bitumen industrial operations,
of presently unaccounted-for emissions under a full
development scenario. Over 100 years, this would average
out to 8.7 megatonnes CO2 per year, although in reality
there would be great variability year-to-year and decade-
to-decade. Canada’s total emissions for 2007 were 747
megatonnes CO2eq from all sources and Canada’s Kyoto
target is 558.4 megatonnes. Although reclamation will
sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it is unlikely to
replace most of the lost biocarbon for thousands of years.
The bituminous sands industry reported emissions of
28.5 megatonnes of CO2eq in 2004, 35.8 megatonnes of
CO2eq in 2007 (Environment Canada, 2009), and have been
projected to be 113.1-141.6 megatonnes CO2eq in 2020
(Bramley et al., 2005).
As a result of our under-estimation, and yet in
consideration of our over-estimation, of land use changes
and loss of biocarbon from bitumen industrial operations,
likely the actual emissions would be higher than our
estimates. However, our estimates might be decreased if
significant progress and improvements are made in the
pace and quality of reclamation.
Conclusions
Proper accounting of GHG emissions from the bitumen
industrial activities is important not only locally, but
within a national and even global context. Published
studies to date on the topic of full life cycle GHG emissions
from bituminous sands industrial activities have failed
to address the issue of CO2eq emissions from land use
changes.
Our paper provides estimates of land use changes,
biocarbon content and consequent potential GHG
emissions due to existing and future surface mining and
in situ extraction of bitumen in Alberta, Canada. Including
proper accounting of GHG emissions due to bitumen
industrial activities may well result in a significant addition
to what has normally been reported by governments and
industry to date.
The highlights of our research include the following:
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
1. Land use changes resulting from surface mining and
the carbon content in these changed areas – The natural
ecosystems that have undergone or may undergo land
use change into open pit mines, tailings ponds, mine
waste, overburden piles and associated facility plants,
and other major infrastructure resulting from existing
and potential surface mining activities total 488,968 ha
(including 209,614 ha of peatlands and mineral wetlands
and 205,590 ha of upland forest). The above and below
ground biological carbon content of this area is at least
140.7 megatonnes.
2. Land use changes resulting from in situ operations and
the carbon content in these changed areas – The natural
ecosystems that have undergone or may undergo land use
change into central facilities, exploration wells, production
wells, access roads, pipelines and other infrastructure from
existing and potential in situ operations total 1,124,919 ha.
This area contains at least 438.2 megatonnes of above and
below ground biological carbon.
3. GHG emissions from loss of biological carbon due
to land use changes caused by bituminous sands
industrial activities – Although not all of the biological
carbon contained within ecosystems changed by bitumen
industrial activities will be emitted into the atmosphere,
if all of this carbon (578.9 megatonnes) were emitted,
this would amount to 2,121.3 megatonnes of CO2. While
this scenario is unrealistic, it nevertheless highlights the
significance of potential greenhouse gas emissions from
the release of biological carbon stores from those natural
ecosystems that will be changed by a full development
scenario of the bituminous sands. A more likely estimate of
releases under a full development scenario would be 238.3
megatonnes of carbon, 873.4 megatonnes of CO2, or 41.1%
of the total carbon contained in the area disturbed by
bitumen industrial operations. Over 100 years, this would
average out to 8.7 megatonnes CO2 per year, with great
variability year-to-year and decade-to-decade. Although
reclamation will sequester carbon from the atmosphere,
it is unlikely to replace most of the lost biocarbon for
thousands of years. Canada’s total emissions for 2007 were
747 megatonnes CO2eq from all sources and Canada’s
Kyoto target is 558.4 megatonnes. The bituminous sands
industry reported emissions of 28.5 megatonnes of CO2eq
in 2004, 35.8 megatonnes of CO2eq in 2007, and have been
projected to be 113.1-141.6 megatonnes CO2eq in 2020.
We hope this paper will:
• Motivate the world scientific community to pay
increased attention to Alberta’s bituminous sands
industrial activities in terms of their ecosystem and
human impacts;
Page 32
 • Provide new GHG emissions data and estimates
(albeit coarse) regarding biocarbon releases to the
atmosphere;
• Encourage others to conduct studies of the carbon
content of existing and potential land use change
of natural ecosystems caused by bituminous sands
industrial activities and to more accurately determine
the volume and rate of emissions of this carbon and
other GHGs into the atmosphere;
Suncor’s Tar Island tailings pond undergoing reclamation.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
• Contribute to efforts to incorporate biological and
other carbon releases into full life cycle GHG emissions
analyses for the bituminous sands industrial activities;
• Encourage debate on whether and how bituminous
sands development can be reconciled with responsible
climate policies for Alberta, Canada and the world.
Page 33
Glossary
Approved and Proposed Projects: Approved Projects
are those bitumen surface mining projects that have
undergone the necessary approvals from the regulatory
authorities and may proceed with construction and
operation. Proposed Projects are those bitumen surface
mining projects where applications for development have
been submitted to the Energy Resources Conservation
Board, but have yet to receive regulatory approval.
Asphaltenes: molecular substances that are found in crude
oil, along with resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, and alkanes
(i.e., saturated hydrocarbons). They can be used for
gasification to supply energy input needs when processing
bitumen.
Biological carbon (biocarbon): the carbon stored in living
plants, decaying and dead plants and as soil organic
carbon.
Bitumen and bituminous sands: Bitumen is a tar-like
mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons with a density
greater than 960 kg/m3; light crude oil, by comparison,
has a density as low as 793 kg/m3. Bitumen will not flow
unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. It is
substantially heavier than other crude oils. Compared
to conventional crude oil, bitumen requires upgrading
before it can be refined and requires dilution with lighter
hydrocarbons to make it transportable by pipeline.
Bitumen makes up about 10-12% the bituminous sands
found in Alberta and is contained in three major areas
beneath 14,020,000 ha of north-eastern Alberta – covering
an area larger than the state of Florida. While conventional
crude oil flows naturally or is pumped from the ground,
bituminous sands must be mined or recovered in situ -
meaning “in place.” Recovery processes include extraction
and separation systems to remove the bitumen from sand
and water (Alberta Government (Ministry of Energy),
2008). The deposits are called “tar sands” everywhere
except in Canada, where the cleaner-sounding “oil sands”
epithet was recently introduced.
Carbon cycling: The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical
cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere,
pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of
the Earth. The carbon cycle is usually thought of as four
major reservoirs of carbon interconnected by pathways
of exchange. These reservoirs are: 1) plants; 2) terrestrial
biosphere, which is usually defined to include fresh water
systems and non-living organic material, such as soil
carbon; 3) oceans, including dissolved inorganic carbon
and living and non-living marine biota, and; 4) sediments
including fossil fuels.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Gasification: a process that converts carbonaceous
materials, such as asphaltenes, coal, petroleum, biofuel, or
biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by reacting
the raw material at high temperatures with a controlled
amount of oxygen and/or steam. The resulting gas mixture
is called synthesis gas or syngas and is itself a fuel.
In situ (in place): the extraction of bitumen from the
subsurface. Special in situ recovery methods, most
commonly the injection of high-pressure steam, are
needed to separate the bitumen from the sand. After
being separated from the sand, the bitumen must be
upgraded through the addition of hydrogen to convert it
into synthetic crude oil that can be sent to refineries.
GHGs (Greenhouse Gases): Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are
gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation
within the thermal infrared range. This process is the
fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. Common
GHGs in the Earth’s atmosphere include water vapor,
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
Land-use change: A change in the use or management of
land by humans, which may lead to a change in land cover
(IPCC, 2004).
Life cycle analysis: (or “cradle-to-grave” analysis) is the
investigation and valuation of the full environmental
impacts of a given product or service caused or
necessitated by its existence (ISO 14040, 2006).
Oil Sands Administrative Area: With the objectives of
facilitating orderly leasing and stable regulations, the
ERCB has deemed the hydrocarbon substance, with
the exception of natural gas and coal, found in certain
geological zones from the top of the Mannville formation
through to the base of the Woodbend formation in the
Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River areas to be oil sands
(Energy Resources Conservation Board, 1984).
Overburden: Overburden is the term used in mining and
archaeology to describe material that lies above the area
of economic or scientific interest, e.g., the rock, soil and
ecosystem that lies above the coal or ore seam. It is also
known as ‘waste’.
SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage): SAGD is an
enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy
crude oil and bitumen. It is an advanced form of steam
stimulation in which a pair of horizontal wells is drilled into
the oil reservoir, one a few metres above the other. Low
pressure steam is continuously injected into the upper
Page 34

wellbore to heat the oil and reduce its viscosity, causing
the heated oil to drain into the lower wellbore, where it is
pumped out.
SCO (Synthetic Crude Oil): synthetic crude oil created by
processing bitumen.
Surface Mineable Area: the part of the bitumen deposit
where the total overburden generally do not exceed 75
metres; it is therefore considered economical to develop
this area by surface mining techniques.
Toe-to-heel air injection: This method combines a vertical
air injection well with a horizontal production well. The
process ignites bitumen in the reservoir and creates a
“fire flood” that warms the residual bitumen, lowering its
viscosity so that it flows to a production well.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Units and quantities:
bbl: barrel
bpd: barrels per day
eq: equivalent
m, m2 and m3: metre, square metre and cubic metre,
respectively
mbpd: million barrels per day
One bbl Cdn Oil = 0.15891 m3 (1 m3 = 6.2929 bbl)
One tonne of carbon = 3.66 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) is a measure of global warming
potential that allows all GHGs to be compared with a
common standard: that of carbon dioxide. For example,
methane is more potent a GHG than carbon dioxide so one
tonne of methane can be expressed as 21 tonnes CO2eq
(Solomon et al., 2007).
Page 35
Literature Cited
Abdul-Kareem AW and SG McRae. 1984. The effects on topsoil of
long-term storage in stockpiles. Plant and Soil 76: 357-363.
Alberta Chamber of Resources. 2004. Oil Sands Technology
Roadmap: Unlocking the Potential. Available at: http://www.acr-
alberta.com/OSTR_report.pdf (07/07/2009).
Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. 1984. Information Letter IL-
84-7, issued under the authority of The Oil Sands Conservation
Act, recently enacted as chapter O-5.5 of the Statutes of Alberta,
1983.
Alberta Government. 2009. Alberta’s Oil Sands: Facts and
stats. Available at: http://www.oilsands.alberta.ca/519.cfm
(07/07/2009).
Alberta Government (Ministry of Energy). 2008. What is oil
sands? Available at: http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OilSands/793.
asp (21/10/2008).
Bergerson J and D Keith. 2006. Life Cycle Assessment of Oil
Sands Technologies. Paper No. 11 of the Alberta Energy Futures
Project. Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and
Economy (ISEEE). University of Calgary. Available at: http://www.
iseee.ca/files/iseee/ABEnergyFutures-11.pdf (07/07/2009).
Bramley M, D Neabel and D Woynillowicz. 2005. The Climate
Implications of Canada’s Oil Sands Development: Backgrounder.
Pembina Institute. Available at: http://pubs.pembina.org/
reports/oilsands-climate-implications-backgrounder.pdf
(20/07/2009).
British Petroleum. 2008. BP Statistical Review of World Energy
June 2008. London: BP. (British Petroleum estimates similar total
proven reserves at 152 billion barrels as of the end of 2007.)
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. 2007. Crude Oil
Forecast, Markets and Pipeline Expansions. Available at: http://
www.capp.ca/GetDoc.aspx?DocID=123361 (07/07/2009).
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. 2009. Statistical
Handbook. Table 03.02A. Available at: http://www.capp.ca/
library/statistics/handbook/Pages/default.aspx (07/07/2007).
CEMA-SEWG. 2008. SEWG Workplan Facilitation and Modelling
Project: Data Input and Assumptions. Available at: http://www.
cemaonline.ca (07/07/2009).
Charpentier AD, JA Bergerson and HL MacLean. 2009.
Understanding the Canadian oil sands industry’s greenhouse
gas emissions. Environmental Research Letters 4 014005
(11pp). Available at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-
9326/4/1/014005/erl9_1_014005.html (08/07/2009).
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Cleary J, NT Roulet, and TR Moore. 2005. Greenhouse gas
emissions from Canadian peat extraction, 1990-2000: a life-cycle
analysis. Ambio 34(6): 456-461.
Couwenberg J. 2009. Emission factors for managed peat soils
(organic soils, histosols):An analysis of IPCC default values.
Wetlands International, Ede, The Netherlands.
Delucchi M. 1998. Lifecycle Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, and Air Pollution from the Use of Transportation Fuels
and Electricity. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of
California, Davis, December 1998 as cited by the documentation
for GHGenius (“Documentation for Natural Resources Canada’s
GHGenius Model 3.0, September 15, 2005”).
Drösler M, A Freibauer, TR Christensen, and T Friborg. 2008.
Observations and Status of Peatland Greenhouse Gas Emissions
in Europe. Chapter 12 in: The Continental-Scale Greenhouse Gas
Balance of Europe. Springer, New York. 390 pp.
Ducks Unlimited Canada. 2009. Land cover dataset for Al-Pac
area of NE-Alberta. Based on 2002 Landsat satellite imagery.
Unpublished.
Ducks Unlimited Canada and Canadian Boreal Initiative. 2008.
Biological Carbon Emission Intensity of Oil Sands Mining.
Unpublished report.
Elliot K. 2008. Examination of oil sands projects: gasification,
CO emissions and supply costs. Energy Resources Conservation
Board SPE/PS/CHOA 117524 PS 2008-375.
Energy Information Administration. 2005. International Energy
Outlook 2005. Figure 29: World Oil Consumption by Region and
Country Group, 2002 and 2025. Available at: http://www.eia.
doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/ (07/07/2009).
Energy Information Administration. 2008. International Energy
Outlook 2008. Table E1: World Oil Production Capacity by Region
and Country. Reference case. Available at: http://www.eia.doe.
gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2008).pdf (07/07/2009).
Energy Information Administration. 2008. Analysis of Crude Oil
Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Washington,
DC: Energy Information Administration. Available at: http://
www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf
(07/07/2009).
Energy Resources Conservation Board. 2008. ST98: Alberta’s
Reserves 2007 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2008–
2017. Available at http://www.ercb.ca/ (07/07/2009).
Page 36
Energy Resources Conservation Board. 1984. Declaration of oil
sands areas to facilitate orderly leasing and stable regulation.
Informational Letter IL 84-7. Available at: http://www.energy.
alberta.ca/OilSands/805.asp (31/07/2009).
Environment Canada. 2009. National Pollution Release Inventory.
Available at : http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/npri_prev_dat_
e.cfm (31/07/2009).
Gorham E. 1991. Northern peatlands: Role in the Carbon Cycle
and probable responses to climatic warming, Ecol. Appl. 1(2):
182– 195.
Government of Canada. 2008. Canada’s 2007 Greenhouse Gas
Inventory: A Summary of Trends. Environment Canada. Available
at: http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/inventory_report/2007/som-
sum_eng.cfm#s1 (14/07/2009).
Guo LB, and RM Gifford. 2002. Soil carbon stocks and land use
change: a meta analysis. Global Change Biology 8: 345-360.
International Energy Agency. 2008. World Energy Outlook 2008.
p. 215. Available for order at: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.
org/ (07/07/2009).
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2006. 2006
IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,
Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Programme: Eggleston HS, L Buendia , K Miwa, T Ngara and K
Tanabe. (eds). Institute for Global Environmental Strategies,
Japan.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2004. Annex
B. Glossary of Terms. Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/
glossary/ar4-wg1.pdf
ISO 14040. 2006. Environmental management - Life cycle
assessment - Principles and framework, International
Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), Geneve. Available at:
http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=37456
(30/08/2009).
Jacobs Consultancy. 2009. Life cycle assessment comparison
of North American and imported crudes. 2009. Alberta Energy
Research Institute. Edmonton.
Johnson EA and K Miyanishi. 2008. Creating New Landscapes
and Ecosystems: The Alberta Oil Sands. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 1134:
120–145.
Jordaan SM, DW Keith and B Stelfox. 2009. Quantifying land
use of oil sands production: a life cycle perspective. Environ.
Res. Lett. 4 (April-June 2009) 024004. Available at http://www.
iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/4/2/024004/erl9_2_024004.html
(07/07/2009).
Kurtz WA and MJ Apps. 1999. A 70-year retrospective analysis
of carbon fluxes in the Canadian forest sector. Ecological
Applications 9(2):526-547.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Lee PG, M Hanneman, JD Gysbers, and R Cheng. 2009. The last
great intact forests of Canada: Atlas of Alberta. (Part II: What are
the threats to Alberta’s forest landscapes?) Edmonton, Alberta:
Global Forest Watch Canada. 145 pp.
Levi M. 2009. The Canadian Oil Sands – Energy Security vs.
Climate Change. Council on Foreign Relations: Center for
Geoeconomic Studies. Council Special Report No. 47, May
2009. Available at: http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/
attachments/Oil_Sands_CSR47.pdf (07/07/2009).
Marland GA, TA Boden, and RJ Andrews. 2007. Global, regional
and national fossil fuel ��
CO2 emissions. In Trends: A Compendium
of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis
Center. Oak Ridge, Tennessee: Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
U.S. Department of Energy. Available at: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/
(13/07/2009). As reported in A Weaver. 2008. Keeping Our Cool:
Canada in a Warming World. Viking Canada. Toronto. 323 pp.
Mui S, D Hannah and R Hwang. 2008. White Paper on
Greenhouse Gas Life Cycle Emissions for Tar Sands. Natural
Resources Defense Council.
Natural Resources Canada. 2008. 2008 GHGenius Update: Final
Report. Office of Energy Efficiency. Available at: http://www.
ghgenius.ca/reports/FinalReportGHGenius2008Update.pdf
(08/07/2009).
Schneider R and S Dyer. 2006. Death by a Thousand Cuts:
Impacts of In Situ Oil Sands Development on Alberta’s Boreal
Forest. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and
Pembina Institute. 36 pp. Available at: http://pubs.pembina.org/
reports/1000-cuts.pdf (04/11/2008).
Solomon S, D Qin, M Manning, RB Alley, T Berntsen, NL Bindoff,
Z Chen, A Chidthaisong, JM Gregory, GC Hegerl, M Heimann, B
Hewitson, BJ Hoskins, F Joos, J Jouzel, V Kattsov, U Lohmann,
T Matsuno, M Molina, N Nicholls, J Overpeck, G Raga, V
Ramaswamy, J Ren, M Rusticucci, R Somerville, TF Stocker, P
Whetton, RA Wood and D Wratt. 2007. Technical Summary. In:
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution
of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon S, D Qin,
M Manning, Z Chen, M Marquis, KB Averyt, M. Tignor and HL
Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
Suncor Energy. 2009. Report on Sustainability. Suncor Energy.
Summary Report Available at: http://www.suncor.com/doc.
aspx?id=526 (08/07/2009). Climate Change Report available at:
http://www.suncor.com/doc.aspx?id=118 (08/07/2009); Climate
Change Supplemental Information Report available at: http://
www.suncor.com/doc.aspx?id=526 (08/07/2009)
Tarnocai C and B Lacelle. 1996. Soil Organic Carbon Digital
Database of Canada (using Soil Landscapes of Canada polygons).
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed
Research Centre, Research Branch, Ottawa, Canada. (Pers.
comm.)
Page 37
Tarnocai C, JG Canadell, EAG Schuur, P Kuhry, G Mazhitova,
and S Zimov. 2009. Soil organic carbon pools in the northern
circumpolar permafrost region, Global Biogeochem. Cycles 23,
GB2023, doi:10.1029/2008GB003327.
Tiax LLC and MathPro Inc. 2009. Comparison of North American
and Imported Crude Oil Lifecycle GHG Emissions: Final Report.
Alberta Energy Research Institute. Edmonton.
Toman M, AE Curtright, DS Ortiz, J Darmstadter, and B Shannon.
2008. Unconventional Fossil-Based Fuels: Economic and
Environmental Trade-Offs. The RAND Corporation. Technical
Report. Available at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_
reports/2008/RAND_TR580.pdf (07/07/2009).
Trumper K, M Bertzky, B Dickson, G van der Heijden, M
Jenkins, and P Manning. June 2009. The Natural Fix? The role
of ecosystems in climate mitigation. A UNEP rapid response
assessment. United Nations Environment Programme,
UNEPWCMC, Cambridge, UK. Available at: http://www.grida.
no/publications/rr/natural-fix/ (28/07/2009).
Turetsky M, K Wieder, L Halsey, and D Vitt. 2002. Current
disturbance and the diminishing peatland carbon sink.
Geophysical Research Letters 29(11): 21.1-21.4.
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. 2007. Climate
Change Policy and Canada’s Oil Sand Resources: An Update
and Appraisal of Canada’s New Regulatory Framework for Air
Emissions. A report for the World Wildlife Fund. Available at:
http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/oilsands_report.pdf
(07/07/2009).
Visser S, J Fujikawa, CL Griffiths and D Parkinson. 1984. Effect
of topsoil storage on microbial activity, primary production and
decomposition potential. Plant and Soil 82: 41-50.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Vitt DH, LA Halsey, MN Thormann and T Martin. 1998. Peatland
Inventory of Alberta. University of Alberta. Edmonton. 35 pp +
geospatial dataset.
Vitt DH, LA Halsey, IE Bauer, and C Campbell. 2000. Spatial and
temporal trends in carbon storage of peatlands of continental
western Canada through the Holocene. Can. J. Earth Sci. 37:
683–693.
Vitt D and RK Wieder. 2006. Boreal Peatland Ecosystems: Our
Carbon Heritage. Chapter 18 in: Boreal Peatland Ecosystems.
Available for purchase at: http://www.springer.com/life+sci/
ecology/book/978-3-540-31912-2 (30/07/2009).
Vitt DH, M Turetsky, RK Wieder, and R Bloise. 2008. The Future
of the Peatland Soils of Western Canada: Cumulative Effects
of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbance. 2008 Joint Annual
Meeting Celebrating International Year of Planet Earth. Houston,
Texas.
Waddington JM, KD Warner, and GW Kennedy. 2002. Cutover
peatlands: a persistent source of atmospheric CO2. Global
Biogeochemical Cycles 16(1): 1002, 10.1029/2001GB001398.
Waddington J and P McNeil. 2002. Peat oxidation in an
abandoned cutover peatland. Canadian Journal of Soil Science
82: 279–286.
Wieder RK, DH Vitt, and BW Benscoter. 2006. Peatlands and
the Boreal Forest. Chapter 1 in: Boreal Peatland Ecosystems.
Available for purchase at: http://www.springer.com/life+sci/
ecology/book/978-3-540-31912-2 (30/07/2009).
Page 38
Annex: Review Process
A key principle of Global Forest Watch Canada is that
transparency and accountability are essential for
developing improved forest ecosystem management. In
the interest of promoting open, public, and transparent
information policies, major Global Forest Watch Canada
projects include a review process and the publication
of a summary of the major comments provided by the
reviewers, including how these comments were addressed.
We sent out 18 review invitations for earlier drafts of this
Bitumen and Biocarbon paper, and also posted a review
invitation to the general public on the front page of our
website. The review materials were available for a one
month period. We received 9 responses from the invited
reviewers.
Most of those who provided feedback found our
earlier draft report to be a very useful report and
potentially suitable for publication if major additions
and improvements were made to the content and
writing style. The reviewer interest in our paper was very
high, particularly in light of the growing national and
international attention to the issue of greenhouse gas
emissions from bituminous sands industrial activities.
Reviewers found that the datasets we used for our
analysis were appropriate. They noted that they were
not, however, in a position to comment on our detailed
calculations and results.
There were three major criticisms of our earlier drafts:
(1) The scope of the analysis needs to be widened by
additional literature search and subsequent analysis of
carbon fluxes;
(2) Style and flow needs improvement due to the technical
nature of the subject matter which makes it very difficult
for readers;
(3) Verbosity and non-scientific language needs to be
removed.
We addressed these criticisms with considerable additions
in the body of the report (including adding a major section
on carbon emissions into the atmosphere due to loss of
biocarbon), and by providing numerous careful edits in
response to specific questions and criticisms.
Following are the major outstanding issues from the
reviewers and our responses.
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Additional Analysis
As formal GHG emissions reporting requires precise annual
estimates of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, these need
to be derived.
This is a critical step that is needed and one of our major
suggestions is to encourage government and industry
to annually report on the disturbance of biocarbon and
the subsequent GHG emissions pathways. However, such
analysis was beyond the time and resources available for
our project. We were interested in examining disturbances
from bitumen industrial activities to date, as well as
examining potential future emission from disturbance
of biocarbon under a full development scenario. In
the absence of clear and known constraints to full
development of the Surface Mineable Area for surface
mining and the Oil Sands Administration Area for in situ
extraction, we thought it was reasonable for us to consider
the loss of biocarbon under a full development scenario.
The issue of reclamation, as it relates to sequestration
and storage of atmospheric carbon needs more attention
and analysis. As a minimum, more details regarding the
considerable reclamation efforts need to be provided.
Although we have added statements related to
reclamation in this paper (e.g., uncertain GHG outcomes of
reclamation), the area that has been certified as reclaimed
to date is small (104 ha), does not include peatlands, and
carbon fluxes are either unknown or unreported to date
for this small certified reclaimed area and the much larger
areas that are undergoing reclamation. We were therefore
unable to include specific calculations and analysis, or
even provide speculation, of reclamation outcomes as they
relate to GHG outcomes.
It is important to assess the biocarbon issues surrounding
the exploration and development of natural gas that
supplies the oil sands.
This is an important issue and, although assessing this was
beyond the time and resources available for this paper,
we recommended in the conclusions that: “We hope this
paper will…. Encourage others to conduct studies of the
carbon content of existing and potential land use change of
natural ecosystems caused by bituminous sands industrial
activities and to more accurately determine the volume
and rate of emissions of this carbon and other GHGs into
the atmosphere.”
Page 39
An important question that is not answered is: how much
more greenhouse gas intensive are oil sands operations
when compared to conventional oil operations?
Until bituminous sands and conventional oil operations
report full life GHG emissions, a comparison cannot
be made. However, we did note that: “A 2009 review
(Charpentier et al., 2009) of GHG emissions associated
with only the immediate production of fuels from
bituminous sands identified substantially higher GHG
emissions (2.2 times that of conventional oil for oil sands
surface mining and 3 times that of conventional oil for
in situ operations) associated with current production
of synthetic crude oil (SCO) and non-upgraded bitumen,
compared to fuels produced from conventional crude oil.
Assumptions around future stored and emitted
carbon need to include climate change
What would happen to the stored carbon in the absence of
oil sands developments? It would be naive to assume, for
instance, that carbon would remain stable in the absence
of oil sands developments; it will likely decline for a number
of reasons, including climate change impacts – resulting
in increased fires, insect infestations, drying of peatlands,
etc.).
This is an interesting point, but modeling future changes to
stored and emitted carbon in the absence of bituminous
sands industrial activities was beyond the time and
resource constraints of our project. In addition, there have
been no baseline studies, to our knowledge, of carbon
fluxes in the region, with existing and prior to bituminous
sands industrial activities, to which future changes could
be compared. Finally, our interest was to examine potential
contributions to GHG emissions from bituminous sands
industrial activities, not to model future carbon fluxes in
the absence of bituminous sands activities.
The focus on future developments
The focus on future developments is problematic as
legislation and policies are constantly evolving to
incorporate environmental concerns. For example, the
Alberta Government’s request to the Lower Athabasca
Regional Advisory Council to look at the potential of
increasing conservation lands from the present 6% to 20%
or more, may well result in less area being available for
bitumen industrial activities than estimated in our analysis.
Although a smaller area may indeed be available in the
future for bitumen industrial activities than is available
today, we found it difficult to build that kind of speculation
into our analysis. The areas legislated as Surface Mineable
Bitumen and Biocarbon (Global Forest Watch Canada, 2009)
Area and Oil Sands Administration Area are all currently
available for such activities and a large percentage of these
areas has already been leased to industry.
Definitions and use of technical terms
More definitions need to be provided as the terminology
is very technical and difficult for readers to understand.
As well, units of measurement need to be as consistent as
possible.
Although we did provide some additional definitions in
the Glossary and we tried to avoid using bitumen-related
terms wherever possible, this is still a challenge in our
paper. For example, the use of the term “bitumen” is a
lesser used term compared to the more commonly used
terms, “tar” and “oil,” but these latter terms are politically
loaded and bitumen is the correct technical term. We also
made most units consistent, except where they appear as
quotes.
Carbon content values
The values for above ground (seemingly too low) and
below ground (seemingly too high) carbon content are
surprising.
Although we are uncertain of the reasons for the
surprise in our numbers, it could be related to the fact
that previous studies on this topic (reviewed by Mui et
al., 2008) did not use regional-specific values for the
carbon content of peatlands, as our study did. We likely
underestimated the above ground carbon content (see our
section titled “Under- and over- estimation of biocarbon
and GHG emissions.”)
We checked and re-checked our calculations; however, the
magnitude of the values necessitates further investigation
on this topic (see our suggestions regarding this in the
“Conclusions” section).
Page 40
Who is Global Forest Watch Canada?
Global Forest Watch Canada (GFWC) is an organization whose role is to support the stewardship
and conservation of Canada’s remaining forest ecosystems by providing decision makers and civil
society with timely, accurate information on their location, state, and change.

In particular, this mission includes monitoring development activities occurring within and around
Canada’s forests which influence the current and future conditions of these ecosystems as well as the
people who live within them. We contribute to a shift toward greater ecological sustainability in the management of
natural areas by creating a compelling visual picture and analysis of current conditions, historical changes and future
trends.

Our vision is that Canada’s forests will be increasingly well-managed through better information that supports improved
decision-making and thereby, will provide a full range of benefits for both present and future generations.