Well-to-Wheels Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Canadian Oil Sands Products: Implications for U.S. Petroleum Fuels.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations affecting U.S. transportation fuels require holistic examination of the life-cycle emissions of U.S. petroleum feedstocks. With an expanded system boundary that included land disturbance-induced GHG emissions, we estimated well-to-wheels (WTW) GHG emissions of U.S. production of gasoline and diesel sourced from Canadian oil sands. Our analysis was based on detailed characterization of the energy intensities of 27 oil sands projects, representing industrial practices and technological advances since 2008. Four major oil sands production pathways were examined, including bitumen and synthetic crude oil (SCO) from both surface mining and in situ projects. Pathway-average GHG emissions from oil sands extraction, separation, and upgrading ranged from ∼6.1 to ∼27.3 g CO2 equivalents per megajoule (in lower heating value, CO2e/MJ). This range can be compared to ∼4.4 g CO2e/MJ for U.S. conventional crude oil recovery. Depending on the extraction technology and product type output of oil sands projects, the WTW GHG emissions for gasoline and diesel produced from bitumen and SCO in U.S. refineries were in the range of 100-115 and 99-117 g CO2e/MJ, respectively, representing, on average, about 18% and 21% higher emissions than those derived from U.S. conventional crudes. WTW GHG emissions of gasoline and diesel derived from diluted bitumen ranged from 97 to 103 and 96 to 104 g CO2e/MJ, respectively, showing the effect of diluent use on fuel emissions.

[1]  A. Brandt,et al.  Land use greenhouse gas emissions from conventional oil production and oil sands. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[2]  Heather L. MacLean,et al.  A life cycle greenhouse gas emissions perspective on liquid fuels from unconventional Canadian and US fossil sources , 2009 .

[3]  Camilla Nesbø,et al.  Microbial communities involved in methane production from hydrocarbons in oil sands tailings. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  Heather L MacLean,et al.  Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of current oil sands technologies: GHOST model development and illustrative application. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[5]  Luke Tonachel,et al.  GHG Emission Factors for High Carbon Intensity Crude Oils September , 2010 .

[6]  Heather L. MacLean,et al.  Understanding the Canadian oil sands industry’s greenhouse gas emissions , 2009 .

[7]  Adam R. Brandt,et al.  Scraping the bottom of the barrel: greenhouse gas emission consequences of a transition to low-quality and synthetic petroleum resources , 2007 .

[8]  Joule A Bergerson,et al.  Life cycle Greenhouse gas emissions of current Oil Sands Technologies: surface mining and in situ applications. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[9]  Adam R. Brandt,et al.  Historical trends in greenhouse gas emissions of the Alberta oil sands (1970–2010) , 2013 .

[10]  Sangwon Suh,et al.  Replacing gasoline with corn ethanol results in significant environmental problem-shifting. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[11]  Sonia Yeh,et al.  Land Use Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Conventional Production and Oil Sands , 2010 .

[12]  Hao Cai,et al.  Consideration of black carbon and primary organic carbon emissions in life-cycle analysis of Greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle systems and fuels. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[13]  D. Schindler,et al.  Oil sands mining and reclamation cause massive loss of peatland and stored carbon , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[14]  Amgad Elgowainy,et al.  Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission intensity of petroleum products at U.S. refineries. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  Richard K. Lattanzio.  Canadian Oil Sands: Life-Cycle Assessments of Greenhouse Gas Emissions , 2012 .

[16]  Jessica P. Abella,et al.  Model to investigate energy and greenhouse gas emissions implications of refining petroleum: impacts of crude quality and refinery configuration. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[17]  Adam R. Brandt,et al.  Variability and uncertainty in life cycle assessment models for greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian oil sands production. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  H. Cai,et al.  Well-to-wheels energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of ethanol from corn, sugarcane and cellulosic biomass for US use , 2012 .

[19]  Zaher Hashisho,et al.  Emissions from oil sands tailings ponds: Review of tailings pond parameters and emission estimates , 2015 .