“Bitumen is junk energy. A joule, or unit of energy, invested in extracting and processing bitumen returns only four to six joules in the form of crude oil. In contrast, conventional oil production in North America returns about 15 joules. Because almost all of the input energy in tar sands production comes from fossil fuels, the process generates significantly more carbon dioxide than conventional oil production.”
Quote by Thomas Homer-Dixon
Author
Thomas Homer-Dixon
Thomas Homer-Dixon (b. 1956) is a Canadian political scientist and leading scholar in environmental security studies. He currently serves as a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and directs its Environment Institute. Homer-Dixon is renowned for his theory on environmental scarcity and its relationship to social conflict, having significantly influenced how scholars and policymakers understand the security implications of climate change and resource depletion. more
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