Donate now
Home » What we do » Campaigning » Toxic Fuels Campaign » Unconventional oil production

Unconventional oil production

Scraping the bottom of the barrel

The world’s economy has been fuelled on oil and gas for over a century. These carbon deposits are starting to run dry, and both governments and companies are wondering how they will fulfil their energy needs in the years ahead.

Unfortunately, oil companies aren’t committing to using new, cleaner technologies. Instead, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel by looking to develop some of the ‘dirtiest’ fuels on Earth – unconventional fuels. These include the controversial tar sands in Canada, shale oils in the US, and coal-to-liquids.

Extracting oil from tar sands involves about three times more carbon emissions – the key cause of climate change – than conventional oil production. And oil shale is even more harmful to the environment. The process to extract the oil trapped in this sedimentary rock results in up to eight times more carbon emissions.

If fully exploited, these unconventional oil sources could push us over the threshold into dangerous climate change that would threaten wildlife extinction on a huge scale.

Toxic damage
Locally, the effects are also devastating. Tar sands production in Canada is destroying boreal (northerly coniferous) forests and using massive amounts of river water from the Athabasca River.

It also creates dangerous waste including toxic water that leaks into the wider environment. A recent report makes a conservative estimate that 11 million litres a day are leaking into the Athabasca River and groundwater every day, raising concerns about serious long-term ecological impacts. The First Nations community that lives downriver from the tar sands developments has seen an unusual number of cases of a rare cancer and other medical conditions. An investigation is under way into the high level of health problems in the community.

The solution
We need to move away from using fossil fuels – and quickly – if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change. This means switching to electric cars and renewable energy sources such as wind power, and it also means that we need to use energy far more efficiently.

Take action

  • Write to your MP. We’re calling on the government to require all UK-listed companies in the oil and gas, and power sectors to report on their total carbon liabilities.
  • Find out about our Toxic Fuels campaign – we want the oil & gas and utilities sectors to be more transparent about the carbon impact of forthcoming energy projects. This is a key stepping stone on the road to switching to renewable energy sources.

More about unconventional oil

Campaigning in partnership with:

The co-operative bank - insurance, investments Contact your MP

Related links

Download

Unconventional Oil - Scraping the bottom of the barrel?

Latest news

Shale gas not the answer – it’s a dangerous distraction

Whether or not the recent investigations in Lancashire into possible connections between 'fracking' and earth tremors prove conclusive, we’re calling for a moratorium on shale gas extraction until all the environmental concerns are properly studied and understood - and for attention and investment to be focused where they should be, on renewables.