Engineering Commons^™

Climate Change Policy Could Make Keystone Xl Obsolete, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Clearly the Keystone XL pipeline threatens both surface and ground water that sustains the agricultural economy of Nebraska, but the projected profitability of tar sands oil and the pipeline operation are dependent on the future economics of climate change. Three recent scientific studies estimate the total carbon intensity of tar sands-based gasoline from Alberta (from both production and burning of the fuel) at an average of roughly 22 percent higher than U.S. gasoline in 2005, with the range of average carbon intensities for tar sands-gasoline at 16 to 27 percent higher than most other sources.