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Time Series EROI for Canadian Oil and Gas

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandre Poisson

    (Program in Environmental Science, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA)

  • Charles A. S. Hall

    (Program in Environmental Science, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA)

Abstract

Modern economies are dependent on fossil energy, yet as conventional resources are depleted, an increasing fraction of that energy is coming from unconventional resources such as tar sands. These resources usually require more energy for extraction and upgrading, leaving a smaller fraction available to society, and at a higher cost. Here we present a calculation of the energy return on investment (EROI) for all Canadian oil and gas (including tar sands) over the period 1990–2008, and also for tar sands alone (1994–2008). We used energy production and energy use data from Statistics Canada’s Material and Energy Flow Accounts (MEFA). We were able to quantify both direct and indirect energy use, the latter from Statistics Canada’s energy input-output model. We found that since the mid-1990s, total energy used (invested) in the Canadian oil and gas sector increased about 63%, while the energy production (return) increased only 18%, resulting in a decrease in total EROI from roughly 16:1 to 11:1. We also found (although with less certainty) that the EROI for tar sands alone has fluctuated around 4:1 since 1994, with only a slight increasing trend. Finally, we analyzed underlying factors possibly influencing these trends.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandre Poisson & Charles A. S. Hall, 2013. "Time Series EROI for Canadian Oil and Gas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:11:p:5940-5959:d:30491
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jon Freise, 2011. "The EROI of Conventional Canadian Natural Gas Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(11), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Hu, Yan & Hall, Charles A.S. & Wang, Jianliang & Feng, Lianyong & Poisson, Alexandre, 2013. "Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of China's conventional fossil fuels: Historical and future trends," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 352-364.
    3. Leena Grandell & Charles A.S. Hall & Mikael Höök, 2011. "Energy Return on Investment for Norwegian Oil and Gas from 1991 to 2008," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(11), pages 1-21, October.
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    6. Adam R. Brandt & Michael Dale, 2011. "A General Mathematical Framework for Calculating Systems-Scale Efficiency of Energy Extraction and Conversion: Energy Return on Investment (EROI) and Other Energy Return Ratios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 4(8), pages 1-35, August.
    7. Brandt, Adam R. & Englander, Jacob & Bharadwaj, Sharad, 2013. "The energy efficiency of oil sands extraction: Energy return ratios from 1970 to 2010," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 693-702.
    8. David J. Murphy & Charles A.S. Hall & Michael Dale & Cutler Cleveland, 2011. "Order from Chaos: A Preliminary Protocol for Determining the EROI of Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(10), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Cleveland, Cutler J., 1992. "Energy quality and energy surplus in the extraction of fossil fuels in the U.S," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 139-162, October.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fizaine, Florian & Court, Victor, 2015. "Renewable electricity producing technologies and metal depletion: A sensitivity analysis using the EROI," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 106-118.
    3. Huang, Chen & Gu, Baihe & Chen, Yingchao & Tan, Xianchun & Feng, Lianyong, 2019. "Energy return on energy, carbon, and water investment in oil and gas resource extraction: Methods and applications to the Daqing and Shengli oilfields," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
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    8. Akvile Lawrence & Patrik Thollander & Mariana Andrei & Magnus Karlsson, 2019. "Specific Energy Consumption/Use (SEC) in Energy Management for Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry: Meaning, Usage and Differences," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Louis Delannoy & Pierre-Yves Longaretti & David. J. Murphy & Emmanuel Prados, 2021. "Assessing Global Long-Term EROI of Gas: A Net-Energy Perspective on the Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Oliver Loertscher & Pau S. Pujolas, 2024. "Canadian productivity growth: Stuck in the oil sands," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(2), pages 478-501, May.
    11. Ke Wang & Harrie Vredenburg & Jianliang Wang & Yi Xiong & Lianyong Feng, 2017. "Energy Return on Investment of Canadian Oil Sands Extraction from 2009 to 2015," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    12. Hall, Charles A.S. & Lambert, Jessica G. & Balogh, Stephen B., 2014. "EROI of different fuels and the implications for society," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 141-152.
    13. Bo Xu & Lianyong Feng & William X. Wei & Yan Hu & Jianliang Wang, 2014. "A Preliminary Forecast of the Production Status of China’s Daqing Oil field from the Perspective of EROI," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-21, November.
    14. David Grassian & Daniel Olsen, 2019. "Lifecycle Energy Accounting of Three Small Offshore Oil Fields," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-23, July.
    15. Lina I. Brand-Correa & Paul E. Brockway & Claire L. Copeland & Timothy J. Foxon & Anne Owen & Peter G. Taylor, 2017. "Developing an Input-Output Based Method to Estimate a National-Level Energy Return on Investment (EROI)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, April.
    16. Adrien Fabre, 2018. "Evolution of EROIs of Electricity Until 2050: Estimation Using the Input-Output Model THEMIS," Policy Papers 2018.09, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    17. Kong, Zhaoyang & Dong, Xiucheng & Jiang, Qingzhe, 2019. "Forecasting the development of China's coal-to-liquid industry under security, economic and environmental constraints," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 253-266.
    18. Oosterom, Jan-Pieter & Hall, Charles A.S., 2022. "Enhancing the evaluation of Energy Investments by supplementing traditional discounted cash flow with Energy Return on Investment analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

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