The hydrogen defense against climate catastrophe

Current oil sands practices reverse a very important trend away from burning carbon and towards the use of hydrogen. The oil sands buck this very important trend. Carbon based fuels are being used to get the relatively high carbon oils to the surface. These oils are then upgraded by ejecting carbon, a process that itself uses a lot of energy whilst simultaneously reducing overall efficiency by reducing the energy content of the material that has been recovered. The carbon footprint is large before we even get to put the gas into our tanks and with plans to use oil from the sands for energy rather than natural gas things are only going to get worse. If things do not change there is a real danger that future oil sands development will be restricted by legislation. At the very least Canada will become an environmental pariah. On the other hand it is clear that fossil fuels will be a significant part of our energy mix for the foreseeable future and the oil sands are a strategic global resource that ensures our energy security. Nuclear power and in the longer term hydrogen derived from nuclear power may provide the answer. The carbon consumed during raw product recovery can be reduced using nuclear energy while the fuel quality and efficiency of energy recovery is improved through adding hydrogen. In this paper some of the work of Professor David Sanborn Scott of the International Association of Hydrogen is discussed and put into the context of the oil sands. (author)