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Aerial views of the Alberta tar sands show the beauty and mess of the whole process

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Business Insider reporter Robert Johnson tried to get a tour of the Alberta tar, err, oil sands operations, but was denied. So instead, he rented a Cessna and took photos from 1,000 feet in the air.

The entire slideshow is a fascinating look at the process of surface mining in Alberta and shows the ugly, not so ugly, and not-as-bad-as-you-thought sides of this unconventional fuel source. I pulled a few pictures from the original post, which you can read here.

Trees being cleared before a shallow layer of topsoil is removed to expose the bitumen (tar/sand mixture):


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Huge Tonka trucks carrying scraped up bitumen to be crushed for further processing:

After crushing, the bitumen is mixed with water so the oil can be siphoned off. Tailing ponds contain the remains of the oily, gritty mixture:

If all goes to plan, the land is restored to its near pre-mining condition.

As an engineer, I have an appreciation for the process. Look at how adept we are at manipulating the Earth for resources. We can move dirt, crush it, and extract useful stuff out of it. No other living thing on the planet can do what we do (for better or worse). The rest of me finds the whole process messy and a hassle, thinking that if we're going to all of this trouble for resources, we must be doing something incorrectly.

All photos by Robert Johnson at Business Insider.

David Wogan is an engineer and policy researcher who writes about energy, technology, and policy.

David's academic and professional background includes a unique blend of technology and policy in the field of energy systems. Most recently, David worked at Austin Energy, a Texas municipal utility, implementing a Department of Energy stimulus grant related to energy efficiency. Previously, David was a member of the Energy & Climate Change team at the White House Council on Environmental Quality for the Obama Administration.

David holds two Master's degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in Mechanical Engineering and Public Affairs. While at UT, David was a researcher in the Webber Energy Group, where his research focused on advanced biofuel production to offset petroleum use in the transportation sector. David holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, where he researched nuclear non-proliferation measurement technology.

David is a 2013 Aspen Institute Journalism Scholar, joining a select group of journalists from Slate, ABC News, and The New York Times.

David lives in Austin, Texas. Follow along on Twitter or email him at david.wogan@me.com.

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