Carbon footprint: Pipelines trump rail on a large scale

University of Alberta study compares emissions involved in bitumen transportation

Pipelines versus rail—it’s all a matter of scale.

That’s the key takeaway from a recent University of Alberta study comparing the carbon footprint of the two methods of transporting bitumen.

U of A mechanical engineering professor Amit Kumar found that pipelines create less greenhouse gas emissions than rail—anywhere from 61 to 77 percent less—when transporting large capacities of crude oil over long distances. Rail, meanwhile, is more efficient for small-scale transportation of less than 50,000 barrels a day over short distances.

“Most of the crude and bitumen exported from Alberta goes to U.S. refineries, which are long distances and at a large scale,” Kumar tells the Edmonton Journal. “(For) what we export in Alberta, larger amount and longer distance, I’d say the greenhouse gas emissions (are) much lower with pipelines.”

The U of A study, which was first published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, calculated the carbon emissions from the entire lifecycle of a pipeline—materials production, construction, transportation and pumping mechanisms—versus a rail car.

“There needs to be public education in terms of what actually is the greenhouse gas footprint when you talk about rail versus pipeline,” says Kumar.


ENERGY MATTERS
Communities and energy projects: Trust is everything, says study

Think local opposition is based on climate change? Think again says Canada West Foundation study

ENERGY MATTERS
Safe, efficient, reliable, and keeping Americans on the move

Pipelines get power to the people in the safest, most efficient way possible


Energy Matters

In the world's conversation about energy, one point is beyond debate: Energy makes a vital contribution to people's quality of life, to society and to human progress. This is true today, and it will remain true in the future. That's why Energy Matters was created. We believe it's important to equip people with unbiased information so they may form opinions, join the conversation and feel confidence in the work and accomplishments of the energy sector. Energy Matters is an initiative that provides transparent information and perspective on energy. Here, we'll cover a range of topics: the scale of global energy; the ways energy is sourced and produced; current energy technology; forthcoming innovations; the world's future energy needs; and the sustainable sources of energy that will fill them. Because energy matters to everyone, we hope you'll rely on Energy Matters as an ongoing source of balanced information.