Permalink: https://media.greenpeace.org/archive/Syncrude-Plant-in-Alberta-Tar-Sands-27MZIFVWT1MB.htmlConceptually similarSyncrude Tar Sands Mine in AlbertaGP026NZCompleted★★★★★★★Syncrude Tar Sands Mine in AlbertaGP026NUCompleted★★★★★★Syncrude Tar Sands Mine in AlbertaGP026NXCompleted★★★★★★Syncrude Tar Sands Mine in AlbertaGP026NYCompleted★★★★Tar Sands and Town of Fort McMurrayGP01ZOPCompleted★★★★Syncrude Oil Operations in Alberta Tar SandsGP04GG6Completed★★★★Syncrude Oil Operations in Alberta Tar SandsGP04GG7Completed★★★★Syncrude Oil Operations in Alberta Tar SandsGP01ULGCompleted★★★★★★Syncrude Oil Operations in Alberta Tar SandsGP01ULHCompleted★★★★★★View AllGP04U5ASyncrude Plant in Alberta Tar SandsAerial view of Syncrude Aurora tar sands mine in the Boreal forest north of Fort McMurray, northern Alberta. The tar sand deposits lie under 141,000 square kilometres of sparsely populated Boreal forest and muskeg and contain about 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen in-place, comparable in magnitude to the world's total proven reserves of conventional petroleum. Current projections state that production will grow from 1.2 million barrels per day in 2008 to 3.3 million barrels per day in 2020 which would place Canada among the four or five largest oil-producing countries in the world. The industry has brought wealth and an economic boom to the region but also created an environmental disaster downstream from the Athabasca river, polluting the lakes where water and fish are contaminated. The Mikisew, Cree, Dene indigenous communities and other smaller First Nations are seeing their natural habitat destroyed and are largely powerless to stop or slow down the rapid expansion of the oil sands development, Canada's number one economic driver.Locations:Alberta-Canada-Fort McMurray-North AmericaDate:20 Jul, 2009Credit:© Jiri Rezac / GreenpeaceMaximum size:4255px X 2756pxKeywords:Aerial view-Boreal forests-Climate (campaign title)-Deforestation-Energy-Forests (campaign title)-Industrial landscapes-Industries-KWCI (GPI)-Oil (fossil fuel)-Oil exploration-Outdoors-Tar sandsShoot:Tar Sands & Boreal Forest - Alberta (2 of 3)Buried below the Boreal Forest of northern Alberta is 3rd largest proven reserve of oil known as the tar sands. Deposits of tar sands are spread out over 138 000 km2 of land (an area the size of Florida) and including 4.3 million hectares of the Boreal Forest. Tar sands are solid at room temperature so it requires more energy and water to extract this oil, making them one of the dirtiest oils on the planet.Related Collections:Pipeline Fights in North America (All Photographers)