Oil Sands Question and Response (OSQAR) Blog

What keeps Marlo awake at night?

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This week, we asked Dr. Marlo Raynolds, Senior Advisor at Pembina Institute to be our guest columnist, responding to some questions.  Pembina Institute is a non-governmental environmental organization whose mission is to advance sustainable energy solutions through innovative research, education, consulting and advocacy.

Marlo is a busy man.  He’s about to head to Europe, to learn another language and surf, with a young family in tow; we thank him for taking the time to respond to our request. 

Need the goods on oil sands? Go to the mall

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Imagine that you’re an electronics retailer and a customer asks you where the chips in your line of smart phones comes from. Or you’re a clothier, and customers want to know who supplied the wool for the suits you are selling. Would you be lost for an answer?

The energy pendulum swings again

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As 2010 drew to a close, the global nuclear power industry was on an upswing. With memories of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island accidents fading, Sweden and Germany reversed plans to shutter their nuclear power plants early. Meanwhile Finland and France were building Europe’s first new nuke plants in over two decades and world-wide, some 400 more were on the drawing board.

How many oxen-power do you have under the hood?

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For those of us that remember the 1970s, a defining event of the era was the energy crisis, which saw significant hikes in the price of oil and many questioning the security of existing energy supplies.  The shock triggered a huge investment in alternative energy sources, most notably nuclear.  Meanwhile Denmark started developing high efficiency wind turbines which are still setting the standard today. The crisis also drove the search for, and exploitation of, previously uneconomic sources of oil such as offshore deepwater fields and oil sands.

A double shot of espresso for the North American economy

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With continuing concern over the stuttering recovery of the once mighty U.S. economy, and much media comment about an apparently unstoppable Asian and Latin American boom, you may think it’s only grim tidings for Canada and North America.