Effects of the Alberta Tar Sands Development on the Environment Essay

Effects of the Alberta Tar Sands Development on the Environment - Essay Example The larger environmental impact of the oil sands is the use of cyclical steam stimulation to remove the in situ bitumen deep within the earth's surface. This process has a negative effect on the ecosystem in general especially within the tailing ponds. The research will look into the primary environmental effects of what the bitumen extraction has as well including what the major oil production companies are doing to alleviate this problem and not add further to the shaky ecosystem occurring in the oil sands production areas. The research will look into the efforts of Suncor Energy, Petro Canada, Husky Energy, Imperial Oil, Nexen, EnCana, Shell Canada, Syncrude Canada and Talisman Energy. Jackson (2004) writes that the problem with using ground water for steam extraction belies the problem that "the release of such chemicals to the subsurface and the subsequent contamination of groundwater was not appreciated until the late 1970s when their widespread presence was finally recognized. The lack of a technical paradigm explaining the processes of contamination and the potential adverse health effects prevented the anticipation of this problem" (Jackson, 2004). To further look at how environmental contaminants caused th... As of writing, the Kyoto protocol was signed by Canada which is designed to be "a treaty that imposes constraints on how much climate-changing 'greenhouse gas' - in particular, carbon dioxide - a signatory can emit. Since Alberta is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases, and the production of oil from tar sands is particularly carbon-intensive, it will make meeting the treaty's targets a lot harder" (Hess, 2006). Annotated Bibliography: Through both primary and secondary sources can the fulfilment of this thesis statement can be obtained. The primary sources include both environmental journals and published academic papers as a directive of this thesis, as well as including secondary sources from historical data and company records respecting this environmental challenge. An effort will also be made to contact the major oil companies through their media relations department to discuss the companies' environmental record to further enhance the topic statement. Sherrington, Mark. (2005). "Biodiversity Assessment in the Oil Sands region, northeastern Alberta, Canada. Sherrington's paper discusses the large numbers of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) that have been completed for approximately twenty oil sands projects over the past two decades. The EIA process in the oil sands has been unique with respect to the impact of the ecological health in relation to the overall goals to maintain biodiversity in the region. This impact addresses issues regarding vegetation, soil and landforms, watershed integrity and biodiversity through the landscape and biodiversity subgroup within the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG). The goal of the SEWG is to "sustain the natural

Business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business plan - Assignment Example Halifax is an ideal location to open this venture, given the vibrant nature of the summer months. The long term vision for SW&D is to expand as an outlet chain across Canada and the Municipality of Halifax will offer the ideal expansion grounds initially. c. Norva Scotia region where Halifax is located is one of the most promising of Canadian tourism attractions with over 2 million visitors in recent years. Halifax tourism and own population are growing steadily (398,000 in year 2009), providing an expanding customer base. Ice-cream industry in Canada has experienced slow yet steady growth, despite its non operational nature during winter months. The Canadian production of ice cream is 400 million liters of hard and approximately 20 million liters of soft ice creams (Sector Profile, 2006) Other items as sundaes and shakes account for 175 million liters. Out of this production Canada also exports around 15 thousand tones over the previous year, mainly to USA and Arab countries (Consumption of Dairy Products, 2010). Total ice cream sales in Canada reached almost $2.1 billion in sales value. The industry is not fragmented and two giants, Nestle and Unilever holds over 60% of the market share (Euromonitor, 2006). Rest of the market is fragmented with regional chains, vendor franchises and chart sales. Direct competition for SW&D will come from the other ice cream parlors in the region such as Dairy Queen, Black Bear Ice Cream Parlor, Cows Homemade Ice Cream, Kendales Ice, Cows Halifax, Cold Stone Creamery to name a few. In addition to these well known outlets, there is a host of other outlets which capitalize on the growth of impulse purchases (Dairy market.com, 2008). Indirect competition to ice creams comes from other deserts and confectionaries that will compete for customers’ share of spend on impulse indulgent foods. However, in this business scenario, SW&D is planning to counter this by incorporating a wide desert