The report,
"Bitumen and Biocarbon," shows that huge amounts of CO2
are released by the disturbance and destruction of the Boreal
forest from both open-pit and in situ mining operations in the tar
sands. Governments and the oil industry do not measure or report on
the greenhouse gas emissions from this kind of forest disturbance.
This means the climate impact of tar sands operations is not
accurately captured by current reporting mechanisms.
The research
shows that under full development the annual average release of
carbon from the removal of natural ecosystems would be 8.7
megatonnes (mt) of CO2, with wide fluctuations over
time. This is a substantial addition to the current reported
greenhouse gas emissions of about 36 mt a year from tar sands
operations.
The
CO2 emissions caused by forest destruction result from
the release of biological carbon (biocarbon) that is stored in
living and dead plants and in soils. This biocarbon is lost through
the construction of mining facilities, roads, well pads, plant
facilities, mine pits and pipelines and other disruptions of stores
of above and below ground vegetation, soils and peat. The stored
carbon becomes greenhouse gas through disturbance.
The total area
of natural ecosystems that has been or will be degraded and
destroyed by open-pit mining and in situ operations in the tar
Sands is 1,613,887 hectares (ha) of northern Alberta's Boreal
ecosystems. This is an area 20 times the size of the City of
Calgary.
The Boreal
forest and other forest ecosystems sequester huge amounts of
carbon. They store almost three times as much carbon as is in the
atmosphere, with tropical and boreal forest ecosystems holding the
largest stores.
The research
paper provides a special focus on the climate threat caused by the
loss of peatlands in the tar sands area. Peatlands store far more
carbon that treed areas. Peatlands in the Boreal forest in
particular contain as much as one third of the world's soil carbon.
Over the past 10,000 years peatlands have removed a significant
amount of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Industrial
activities in the tar sands are depleting peatlands and causing the
release of stored carbon and the loss of annual sequestration
potential. The report notes that only five per cent of the
peatlands in the tar sands region need to be destroyed for the
region to lose the carbon-sink effect of peatlands. Full
development of the tar sands will remove more than five per cent of
peatlands and cause emissions to exceed the ability of peatlands to
sequester carbon.
The report notes that
in future the volume of carbon sequestered and stored long-term
will be insignificant for the peatland area that has been and will
be disturbed compared to the natural peatland ecosystem. This is
based on the present plans for reclaiming peatlands and on the
limited progress made since tar sands mining began in 1967 to
reclaim peatlands.
Reclamation
efforts will sequester carbon from the atmosphere, but are unlikely
to replace most of the biocarbon that will be lost through
disturbance for thousands of years, especially in
peatlands.
The science
used by GFWC to calculate unreported CO2 emissions is
the most recent found in scientific literature on the topic. The
data GFWC used for its calculations were considered of the highest
caliber by the reviewers who commented on the research paper before
it was published.
The research
paper notes the growing concern over Canada's greenhouse gas
emissions and a lack of relevant and complete data available to the
public on emissions at a time when rapid and major expansion of the
tar sands industry continues. Concern about Canada's greenhouse gas
emissions is elevated by the failure of Alberta and the federal
government to curb emissions.
According to
the Union of Concerned Scientists, Canada is seventh on the list of
top 20 emitters, ahead of the UK, Italy, France and Spain. In 2007,
Canada's total reported greenhouse gas emissions were 747 mt from
all sources. Reported emissions from the tar sands are expected to
increase from about 36 mt in 2007 to as much as 140 mt by 2020.
This does not count the unreported emissions of the disturbance of
the Boreal forest in Alberta. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol in
2002 and committed to reduce emission to 558.4 mt by
2012.
- 30 -
Download a copy
of the report: http://www.greenpeace.org/ canada/gfwc
For more information, please contact:
Jessica Wilson,
Greenpeace media and public relations officer, (778) 228-5404
Christy Ferguson,
Greenpeace climate and energy coordinator, (416) 451-9354
Peter Lee, lead
author. Global Forest Watch Canada executive director, (780 422
5989 or cell 780 914 6241)
Brian Blomme,
Greenpeace communications coordinator, (416) 930-9055